Imperial Valley press., 1943-05-10
Capital T a'k
-by-
Peter Edison

capita i'm 1943 as against 1851
pounds i'm 1912, and only one
pound (eXactly) less than the
fiye-year average of 1897 pounds
per capita, 1858. All of which
goes to show how much the ex-
perts know about these things.
the truest line i'm the owl report
being magnificent generality,
The food situation is not entire
ly predictable." Life is like that'
too, to coin another phrase.
WHY'S AND WHEREFORES
But seriously now, and not to be-
little, just what is behind this po-
tato predicament? Is production
off? Are people eating more? Has
the American distribution system
gone completely to pot? Is 1t the
weather? Are people boarding po-
tatoes? Are they all going to lend
lease? Or has the black market got
EN-? The answers would seem TO
be little of each.
People are working harder. More
people are working harder. More
people working harder make more
money. Their energy requirements
are up, they have more money TO
buy more potatoes and blooeyl UP
!oes the potato consumption.
A nice theory is that when
s,archy potatoes became unstyl-
ish, production dropped off to
next to nothing, but that isn't
tntA
ped off from 3.5 million acres to
IS million acres i'm the last 10
wears. but while that was hap
yening, the yield per acre has
gone ND from 100 bushels to the
acre 20 over 1870 bushels TO the
acre, making the 1912 crop of 81
million bushels higher than the
yield of IL out of the last rs
years.
All right, but. if all those potatoes
were grown, where are they? The
alibis run something like this:
Now is the tag end of the l942
potato season. New potatoes are
lust beginning to come to market,
or should be. But the Florida
freeze cut the early potato by 80
per cent Louisiana and MISSISSIPPI
ii crops are three weeks late. Tex
rs potatoes are just beginning to
move.
THE BLACK MARKET BOYS
That puts up the demand on the
holdover crops of Idaho and Maine
some $4,000 to 10000 carloads. The
army has practically taken over all
of the remaining Maine crop, about
5000 to 1000 carloads, for overseas
supply. No one in Maine can now
ship old potatoes without a gov
permit, and what the army
doesn't want. the Food Distribution
Agency does, for emergency snip
ments. There is an increased de-
mand for Idaho, Colorado, Oregon
and North central states potatoes
to keep the dehydrating plants go
ing, to built up army reserves. AND
to further assist in sweeping the
market clean, there is the normal
spring demand for seed potatoes.
Here comes in your old friend,
the black market operator.
Knowing that people requiring
seed potatoes TO plant can get
ther on certificate, thousands Of
bushels of "seed potatoes" have
been sold on the black market at
high, seed potato prices, which
will never be planted any place
except in a pot or oven Of some
kitchen stove. Seed potatoes
have even been sold to apartment
house dwelIers in some eastern
metropolitan ccnters.
So that's the potato situation,
and it will be like that maybe till
mid May.
But the experts still say there
isn't any shortage. Potatoes won't
be rationed and victory gardeners
are still advised not to plant pota-
toes as there will be enough later
on to make up for what you don't
get now.