Evening star., 1943-06-22
Seed Potatoes on Wa\
To Supply Farms in
Maryland
Dealers to Ignore
Victory Gordens' Cry;
l8 Carloads Shipped

Eighteen carloads of certified
seed potatoes are on their way
from Canada to meet unprecedent-
ed demands and consequent short
age in the Maryland-Virginia mar
ket, it was learned today at the
Agriculture Department.
These potatoes will be sold in
large quantities to farmers rather
than in small amounts to Victory
gardeners, dealers who have ordered
them, said
Each carload, loaded and iced at
Montreal last week, contains $50
hundred-pound bags, or about 75O
bushels. The potatoes are Green
Mountains, Katahdins. Cobblers and
Houmas. They should be available
next week
Hundreds of Calls.
The local seed potato situation is
typifled by the recent experience of
Mandley T. Rust, Falls Church
dealer, who has three carloads of
the Canadian potatoes on order.
L have had 1000 calls in the last
few days for seed potatoes, Mr..
Rust said. Il have had to assign an
employe to do nothing but answer
the telephone and say no Most
OF the calls are requests for small
quantities for Victory gardens and
l am not going to fill any of them.
First, l am going to take care of
my regular customers in Fairfax
County and then if any farmers in
Loudoun County or in Maryland
want seed potatoes in sizable guam
titles l will try to take care of them.
l have had calls from as far as
Richmond"
Mr., Rust said that he had sold
eight carloads of seed potatoes this
year and could have sold twice
as many" The eight carloads is
more than he sold last year. He
was under the impression that as
much seed potatoes as last year had
come into this market but that the
demand was much greater as farm
ers sought to take profitable part
IN overcoming the potato shortage.
Northern Potatoes Used
Potato paintings in Maryland and
Virginia are usually from seed DO
tatoes shipped in from the north,
rather than from locally grown po-
tatoes. Seed potatoes from North
ern climes start plants that are
freer from disease.
Other cars of the shipment from
Canada are going to the Southern
States Cooperative at Fairfax. Va .:
the Maryland Tobacco Growers AS
sociation and the Cooperative Seed
q Farm Supply Service at Marl-
boro, Md.
1t was explained at the Agricul-
ture Department that the local
potato seed situation was mot
too pretty" picture but that lit
tie was being done about it until
the Canadian seed was located be-
cause seed was going to more eff
cient growing areas.
The Canadian seed potatoes were
in excess, it was said, and were
about to be released as food when
the department heard about it. A
trade was Immediately arranged
with l8 carloads of table potatoes
moving North in exchange for the
l8 carloads of seed.
Some Hope for Gardeners.
The department officials in
Maine had not been releasing ship
ments of potatoes to this area, it
was explained, because they were
taking a broad national view of
the situation" and there are areas
further North that will produce so
to 100 bushels more to the acre from
the same volume of seed.
Raymond Ward, manager of F. w
Bolgiano Seed Co., said he expected
to get carload of seed potatoes
from Maine next week and would
make them available for victory
gardens. Russell Balderson, who
operates seed store in Indiana
avenue, said he had no potatoe seed
and had been trying desperately
to buy carload.
A spokesman for the Agriculture
Department said that it was a mis-
take, anyway, to plant potatoes in
the typical victory garden of so OF
100 by 80 feet area Potatoes, he
said, are not an efficient crop for
such a small space. The potato
shortage is over, he said, at least
until February and March next year
with potato paintings up IA per cent
or enough to produce a record crop