The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-01

to make up for that famine of last
spring.
AS you'll recall. that shortage was
caused by two things. First, de-
mand for more seed potatoes to
| increase the acreage and the yield
for this year. Second, bad weather
and a late growing season in the
south, which delayed arrival on the
market of the first new potatoes.
You know what happened next.
A potato black market in which
even the people who lived on the
tenth floors of crowded apartment
districts were signing phony certi-
iicateS SO they could pay exorbitant
prices for seed potatoes - not to
! plant-but to eat 1t was one of the
dirtier disgraceful lows in wartime
mob psychology and human be-
| havior.
POTATOES,
| POTATOES, POTATOES
All those new early potatoes
which didn't arrive on the market
when expected have now come to
market-late. From North Carolina,
Texas, Oakland and Arkansas, DO
tatoes by the carload are coming
| out of the ground, flooding the
market and running right into the
normal supply of early spuds be-
ing harvested on time from the
next tier of states, Virginia to Kan
SaS
Those early potatoes don't grow
the thicker tougher skins that the
later northern potatoes do, so they
won't keep as we'll Cold storage
facilities for early potatoes are linn
tied. Furthermore, these early pota-
toes aren't as suitable for drying or
dehydrating or canning, though
they can be handled in this way.
War Food Administration has
therefore come through with as
surances that it will support the
market, buying all surplus potatoes
not taken up in regular trade chan
nels at prices up to 90 per cent of
/ parity, which figures out roughly at
two dollars, more or less, per hun
dred pounds.
STUFF YOURSELF ON SPUDS
Having bought up these surplus
! potatoes, the War Food Administra-
ton agencies will do everything
they can to get them used. Ship
ments will be diverted to areas not
receiving their proportionate sup
plies. If necessary they will be dis
tributed to relief agencies and hos
pitfalls. A large pack will be canned.
Above all else, consumers will be
asked to eat potatoes as they never
ate potatoes before and to keep on
eating them as long as the surplus
lasts. Victory gardeners who planted
| potatoes will be asked to refrain
from digging their first, tender but
immature little spuds, but to save
EN-, let EN- grow to full size in the
ground and harvest them late so as
to help eat up this surplus on the
market now.
The moral of this potato tale, If
! anT. is that you never can tell what
tickle old Mother Nature is going to
do, and all the agricultural econo-
mlsts, price experts, rationing law
yers and congressman in the world
cant control the weather or the
growing season.
What has happened in potatoes
might happen on the beef situation.
Right now, as you know. beef cattle
aren't coming to market. They're
| being held on the ranges, and cat
i tlemen are frankly worried about
the dangers of overgrazing. If a dry
spell should come along and the
grass lands start to shrivel up you
might see the biggest stampede of
range cattle towards market that
this country ever experienced.
You might even get some roast
beef to go with your potatoes and
make roast beef hash, and wouldn't
that be something. 1t Just goes to
show you what uncertainties these
government regulators have to gam
BILE with in trying to manage the
war on the home front.