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due to more favorable condit ions for infection in i r r igated-f ields , due to a be t t e r env i ronment for insect life.

(12) Place effect (lid not seem to be a factor inf luencing the seed value of a lot of pota toes when diseases were e l iminated f rom the seed plots.

(13) In a compara t ive plat, the per cent of spindle- tuber found in 56 lots of T r i u m p h po ta toes , - - se tec ted more or less at r andom f rom growers in the Nor th Pla t te V a l l e y , - - r a n g e d f rom 3 pe r cent to 99 per cent wi th a mean of 15 per cent. The yield ranged f rom 31 bu. to 288 bu. wi th a mean of 141 bu. T h e s imilar i ty of this mean yield and tha t of the entire i r r igat ion projec t is considered signifi- cant.

(14) T h e n u m b e r of years of i r r igat ion was not d i rec t ly corre- lated with high spindle- tuber content , but on the whole spindle- tuloer was more sor:r)us with the length of t ime a s t ra in had been irrigated. , > o attemI". :~ ha,. mg been made to el iminate the disease) .

(15) Tile percen tage of sp indle- tuber found in d ry land lots inspected for certif ication has been decreas ing steadi ly since 1921, when the - t roub le was first noted as " run out" pota toes . Spindle- tuber was the chief cause for re jec t ing fields for certif ication in 1923,

(16) In a compara t ive trial plat "grown in 1924 the fo l lowing average pe rcen tage of spin(lie-tubers of No. 1 size were ha rves ted : 116 lots certified in 1923--averaged 5 per cent spindle- tuber of No. 1 size; 49 lots entered for certif ication for the first t ime in 1924, averaged 4.2 per cent spindle- tuber of No. 1 size; 51 lots rejected for all reasons in 1923--averaged 12 per cent spin-

die- tuber of No. 1 size; 23 lots rejected because of spindle- tuber in 1923 averaged 20.5 per

cent sp indle- tubers of No. 1 size. (17) P lan t s f rom seed infected wi th spindle- tuber were much

s lower in e m e r g i n g than plants f rom normal or (hea l thy) seed.

N E W D E V E L O P M E N T OF P O T A T O M A R K E T I N G

Daniel Dean

T h e 1925-26 po ta to crop season has seen an immense expans ion of the m a r k e t i n g of pota toes by mo to r truck. The wr i t e r has t raveled and inquired widely in the s ta tes of New York, Pennsy l - vania and New Jersey and finds eve rywhere the s i tuat ion tha t the propor t ion of the pota to crop marke t ed to date by t ruck is much larger than ever before. The s ta t is t ics of m o v e m e n t of car lots of pota toes do not therefore indicate the full consumpt ion . Re- main ing s tocks at the beginning of the second half of the consump- tion of the main crop, which is rough ly abou t New Year ' s , are lower than would be indicated by the car lot figures,

Po ta to m o v e m e n t by moto r - t ruck is only the expansion of the immense traffic by wagon haul which has a lways gone on. A

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section like Aroos took or Idaho, far f rom marke t has ahvays shipped by rail, and will in the future. States thickly dot ted with cities like Connect icut have used the wagon in the past , not the rail- road. L a r g e par t s of up-s ta te New York, mos t of Pennsy lvan ia and the po ta to g rowing areas in the corn belt have largely used the w a g o n haul in the past . Areas like Steuben County, N. Y. and Suffolk Co. on Long Is land have used the rai lroad.

Expans ion of t ruck m o v e m e n t has come because it carries the pota to crop f rom the g rower ' s f a rm ahnos t all the w a y to the con- sumer , at least as far as the grocery. No doubt the t ruck costs much more than the railroad, mile for mile, but the sav ing in other costs makes the t ruck a compet i tor . Ever since its invent ion the t ruck has g radua l ly taken more po ta toes f rom the f a rm each year.

T h e explanat ion of the grea t expansion of this m o v e m e n t in the single season of 1925-26 is not hard to find. The severe drouths of last s u m m e r and spr ing shor tened as well as r ipened the ear ly crop th rough to New Jersey. By Sep tember 1st, the New Jersey crop was near ly shipped out.

The mon th of Augus t t7o1111(l po ta toes at a price which s t imulated the heavies t m o v e m e n t on record f rom the nor thern main crop states. Rough l y speaking, our main crop te r r i to ry is made up of two par ts , one shipping all bv rail, as Aroostook, and another , such as up-s ta te New York and Pennsy lvan ia which is so dotted with g rea t manufac tu r ing cities that but few counties are out of the reach of a motor - t ruck f rom some city. T h e record m o v e m e n t of ear ly po ta toes f rom Aroos took was being paralel led in these areas by a very heavy sh ipmen t by truck. F r o m every nor thern city t rucks were going in every direction. A considerable par t of the traffic was over 100 miles, as f rom Suffolk Co., L o n g Is land to N e w York City, and f rom P o t t e r Co., Pa. to Buffalo, N. Y.

H igh prices for pota toes paid the costs of the long trips. At $2.00 to $2.50 a bushel the t r u c k m a n could get a ma rg in of profit Which would pay for a 100 mile haul where the m a r g i n last year on pota toes at 50 or 75 cents would not pay for 50 miles, l~'irst a wide spread a t tack of late bl ight and rot, and then a far wider freeze in jury in late October fu r ther s t imulated the g rowers ' wish to sell, which had begun earlier under the pressure of debts ac- cumula ted by lean potato years.

An indicat ion of the extent to which local supplies of pota toes have been exhaus ted is shown by recent repor ts of the Roches te r office of the depa r tmen t of agricul ture. Great cities like Buffalo, Rocheater and Syracuse are be ing forced to send to the car lot sh ipping s e c t i o n s ' f o r their supplies. Al ready a n u m b e r of cities have had to buy more cars than in the whole of the New York state sh ipp ing season a year ago. Fropa southern N e w England mos t of the w a y to the Missouri r iver the s teady reduct ion of local pota to supplies by motor - t ruck has created a shor tage which mus t be filled nex t spr ing f rom the nor thern and wes te rn car lot ship- p ing sections, in addition to the normal demand f rom the large cities which they have a lways filled in the past.