Evening star., 1943-04-09
Potatoes Disappear
From Vegetable Bins
OF District Stores
Supply Is Exhausted;
New Crop Expected
In Six or Eight Weeks

Potatoes, hard to get for the past
/ month, have now become virtually
unobtainable, a check of local gro
Gerry stores and wholesale dealers
revealed today.
An official of one local grocery
chain that includes about 200 stores
said he doubted that there is a
potato in any of our stores A
number of other dealers reported
| their supplies have been completely
! exhausted Some retailers said they
! have small quantities of potatoes and
were rationing purchases at to 5
! pounds to each customer
Relief from the severe shortage
is not expected for six or eight
weeks, when potatoes from new
crop will begin arriving on the local
market in quantity from Florida
and other areas along the lower At
lantic Coast
At the same time, dealers disclosed
a temporary shortage of fresh string
beans, expected to continue until
the end of next week when ship
ments from a new Florida crop will
reach here.
Black Market Charged.
Several wholesalers said the DO
tato shortage has given birth to
black market dealings in which
bags of potatoes are sold for $3.50
to $3.50 instead of the wholesale
price ceiling of $3.50 a bag.
One trick used, it was reported,
is for the seller to chalk up the
lega! price in his books and to enter
another item, such as lettuce. for
the balance. The buyer of course,
never sees the lettuce.
Porter Taylor, manager of the
/ Cooperative Fruit and Vegetable
Association, blamed unfavorable
weather, transportation bottlenecks
and OPA regulations for the potato
scarcity, which he said exists in
many areas throughout the country.
New Crop Delayed.
| The only potatoes now on the
market are those remaining from
/ last falls crop, Mr.. Taylor pointed
/ out, Potatoes from the early spring
crop normally would have been due
on the market in quantity by the
middle of this month. but a Feb
ruary freeze in Florida and the
lower Atlantic States and heavy
rains in California have delayed the
spring crop for some weeks.
| There are few potatoes remaining
from last fall. because the OPA
failed to take into account the full
costs OF storage and the shrinkage
/ that results when potatoes are
/ stored Mr.. Taylor said.
/ Most growers and dealers disposed
OF their fall potatoes as soon as pos
slble, finding it more profitable than
holding them for marketing in May
and June.
The OPA recently raised the price
ceilings for potatoes marketed dur
Ing May and June in a move to
encourage the holding Of some of
the fall crop, Mr.. Taylor said. The
action came too late, however. he
! declared. Few fall potatoes remain
/ to be marketed.
Transportation Shortages.
Most fall potatoes are now in
Maine or Minnesota. There are
railroad car shortages in these areas,
Mr.. Taylor said, and because Army
goods and seed for spring planting
have priority, not enough dinner
table potatoes can be shipped.
Also contributing to the shortage
of table potatoes has been the pre-
MUM price allowed by OPA for
seed potatoes, it was said. Large
quantities of selected potatoes.
which ordinarily might have gone
for table use, were relabled and
sold at higher price for use as
seed.
The OPA yesterday removed the
premium price on selected potatoes
for seed, and in the future will allow
an extra rs cents per hundredweight
for these only under one of four
specified conditions.