The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-23

t20.7 pounds per capita In lSaS aS against l25.l pounds in l042, and only one pound Ccxactly) less than the five-year average of 1907 pounds per capita, l036.S0. All Of which goes to show how much the experts know about these things, the truest line in the OWr report being magnificent generality, '"The food situation is not entirely 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 poe tato predicament2 Is production of? Are people eating more? Has the American distribution system gone completely to pot? Is 1t the weatherq Are people hoarding pota. toes? Are they all going to lend- lease? Or has the black market got 'em? The answers would seem to be a 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 goes the potato consumption.
 A nice theory is that when Starchy potatoes became unstylish, production dropped off to next to nothing. but that isn't so. Potato acreage has dropped off from 3.5 million acres to 2.8 million acres in the last 10 years, but while that was happening the yield per acre has gone up from 100 bushels to the acre to over 130 bushels to the acre, making the l942 crop of 37l mile lion bushels higher than the yield of l7 out of the last 26 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 i9l2 potato season. New potatoes are just beginning to come to market, or should be. But the Florida freeze cut the early potato crop by 50 per cent. Louisiana and Mississippi crops are three weeks late. Texas potatoes are just beginning to move. And the next tier of potato states, Alabama, Georgia, California, won't be doing much digging till the first of May.
 THE BLACK MARKET BOYS
 That puts up the demand on the holdover crops of Idaho and Maine some l5,OO0 to 10000 carloads. The Army has practically taken over all of the remaining Maine crop, about 5000 to 700 carloads. for overseas supply. No one in Maine can now ship old potatoes without govern. ment permit, and what the Army doesn't want. the Food Distribution Agency does, for emergency ship mentS. There Is an increased de- mand for Idaho, Colorado. Oregon and north central states potatoes to keep the dehydrating plants going. to build up Army reserves. And to further assist in sweeping the mar ket 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 them on certificate, thousands of bushels of seed pota- toes" have been sold on the black market at high. seed potato prices. which will never be potatoes have even been sold to apartment house dwellerS in some eastern metropoli- tan centers.
 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.