Evening star., 1943-08-08
Only Il Carloads
OF Potatoes Dumped, ,
Not 81, VIA Says
BY the Associated Press.


The War Food Administration
said yesterday that only approx
mately one and q half carloads of
Government-owned potatoes. and
not 81 as was reported Friday by
Representative Lands, Republi-
can, OF Indiana had been dumped
at Vincennes, Ind, because they had
spoiled
In a statement on what it de-
scribed as its potato purchase and
conservation program" the VIA
said 81 cars represented the total
amount which had been shipped to
Vincennes for storage. Twelve of
those cars are now In transit to
canneries, it. said. while. the re-
mainder Is being sorted and handled
as rapidly as available. labor will
permit.
In reporting the dumping. Mr.
Lands demanded an Investigation
OF the incident, which he described
as fitting example Of New Deal
blundering."
Otnef FOt2tOeS dumped.
The VIA statement said some
dumping OF potatoes had been
necessary at other points. Later,
WA ofIicials said orally that q total
of so cars was lost. The only point
mentioned in the statement in ad-
dition to Vincennes, however. was
Moorestown, N. j., where volunteer
salvage crews helped in sorting and
in saving, the statemnet said, 80
per cent of more than so carloads.
The statement said the VIA had
bought 6,422 cars OF early potatoes
to conserve for food as large a
percentage as possible OF this per-
ishable crop and to provide growers
the fair returns assured them when
the Government called for in
creased production Of this essen
tial war crop"
The Government purchases were
made, the WA said, when COM
mercial buyers withdrew from the
market where the more perishable
potatoes were being shipped. Buy
ing by the WA In these regions be-
came necessary. the food agency
said, to assure harvest Of the entire
crop and to hold waste to an abso-
lutte minimum.
Spoilage Explained.
Contributing causes to the spoil
age, the VIA said, were the facts
that early potatoes cannot be stored
for any length of time. but must be
utilized Immediately, and adequate
refrigerated. space is not always
available. Such was said to be
the case at Vincennes.
IT the purchase problem had not
been in effect" the statement said
ut is estimated that more than SO
per cent OF the potatoes purchased
by the Government would not have
been dug, thus becoming COM
plet, waste in terms Of available
food"
The WA said that of the 6,422
cars 1t had bought, 3,065 had been
diverted to Gamers. under contract
to the WA, and 2s2 had gone to
dehydrstors. Ordinarily, these can
ners and dehydrators do not operate
at this season Of the year. but were
encouraged, the statement said, by
the VITA to 60 into operation unus-
ually early.
Bought Only Per Cent.
More than 1000 cars were said to
have been diverted to storage plants
$50 cars to various State institutions
and 420 cars sold back to regular
commercial distributors.
The VIA said 900 cars still in
storage were being moved as rapidly
as possible TO Gamers and dehy-
orators and few would need sort
ing and regarding
The number OF potatoes bought
by the VIA was said to represent
only about per cent of an early
and intermediate seasons produc-
ton. The bulk was obtained in
North Carolina and Virginia
Smaller lots were bought in other
Southern, Midwestern and Atlantic
Coast States. Government purchase
prices, on the basis of United States
No. grade, were from 81 to S2.25 A