Milford chronicle., 1924-05-16
SWEET POTATO PRODUCTION
BY Russell Z. WiIsOn-Kent County
Agent

According to statistics which were
taken on March 1 of this year by the
United States Department of Agri-
culture, the sweet potato acreage this
spring throughout the entire county
will be considerably larger than it
has been in any previous year. II
these plans are carried out in proper
tiOn to the extent to which they have
been developed to date, the acreage to
be planted to sweet potatoes this
spring, taking the whole country into
consideration, will be 16 per cent
greater than it was in 1928, when
there was a disastrous loss to the
growers because of over production.
There are in the United States,
twenty-seVen states producing sweet
potatoes on a commercial scale, and
the total acreage in 1922 was 1,116,-
900. Considering the 8 per cent in
crease, as mentioned above, the COM
bined sweet potato producing area in
1924 will amount to approximately l.
10000 acres for the entire United
States. Of these twenty-seYen states
in the Union which produce this crop,
Delaware ranks third in the list with
Pennsylvania, the average yield per
acre for the five-year period (191S-
1929 being 1872 bushels. Arizona leads
the list with a yield of 1877 bushels
per acre during this same period. The
average production for the entire
United States was 98.4 bushels per
acre.
In 1922 Delaware produced 1,720,000
bushels of sweet potatoes on 10000
acres, or an average yield of 172
bushels per acre. During the fiVe-year
period mentioned above, the average
value of this crop in Delaware was
S1S4.85 per acre, or an average of
$1.02 per bushel. On December 1, 1922,
the farmers in Maryland and Della
ware received on an average a price
of so cents a bushel for their potatoes
on the farms, which was a little less
than one-half as much as they receiv-
ed during the five years preceding.
During the ten-year period (1913-
1929 the average farm price per
bushel for sweet potatoes was 95
cents, as compared with $1.S5 a bush
ell for the crop of 1918, and only n
cents a bushel for the 1922 crop
which happened to be an over pro
duction. AS a result of this condition,
the total sweet potato acreage
throughout the United States in 1922
was dropped from 1,116,O00 acres to
$4,000 acres in 1928, or to almost the
as reported in 1920 which was
$4,000.
Intended paintings this spring in
most Of the sweet potato producing
states range from 10 to 20 per cent |
greater than were reported in 1928. |
The states quoted as having this 20 |
per cent or more increase this year
are Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee,
Illinois, and Florida. TAX |
ing these few facts into consideration, |
it is easily apparent that an average |
yield Of sweet potatoes in 1924 On the !
acreage as heretofore indicated from |
reports will result in a
total production which will be even
greater than has been obtained in
any previous year. In planting this
increased acreage this spring, the
farmers should first consider the dis
astrous results which followed the
period of over production in 1922, and
hen plant their acreage accordingly.
The time to grow a crop is not when
everyone else is producing the same
for such practice invari-
IDLY results in an over production
which is the chief cause of low prices
ind poor market conditions generally.
The markets should be extended rath-
.r than the commodity itself, for
all prices of farm pro-
luce especially are governed largely
~ the law of supply and demand.