A study of the factors influencing the improvement of the potato / by Edward M. East.

  • Edward Murray East
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A study of the factors influencing the improvement of the potato / by Edward M. East. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    A STUDY OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE POTATO* By Edward M. East. INTRODUCTION » Either because it possesses no strong flavor to dull the appetite, or possibly on account of its antiscorbutic properties, the common potato Solanum tuberosum L., has overcome seemingly insurmount- able obstacles in its claim upon the public taste and has become a close rival to our cereal staff of life. The high cost of production and general uncertainty of the return, combined with the cost of transportation of a perishable, bulky product, would seem to be ad- verse factors which might preclude any general increase in grow- ing the crop. Such has not been the case, however, and the potato, like other crops, has increased greatly in acreage in lo- calities best suited to it, notably the sandy soils of the northern states. These soils seem to be so pre-eminently fitted for its growth that the crops are highly profitable even after deducting the cost of shipping long distances. During the last ten years,* * the six states of Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa have furnished an average of one-half of the total crop of the United States. In other sections of the country where the growing of large crops is more unlikely from natural reasons, as inhospitable soil or climate, the cost of production has been high, and over- production at times (as in 1895-6) has had a very disastrous effect upon the price, occasioning great loss to the producer. This state of affairs is in a great measure due to the fact that in these sec- tions the acreage per grower is small, and the business is not suf- ficiently organized to make possible long distance shipping, which would partially overcome the great local fluctuation in price. The annual consumption of potatoes per capita in the United States for a period of thirty years is given by the Twelfth Census as three and one-half bushels, and when the amount available for human consumption is smaller than this,—as has bee^n the case in the last few years,—the price precludes their use for other purposes. to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Illinoift In partial fulnllment of the requirements for the dejfree of Doctor of Philosophy, March, Pxn. S. Dept, of Agri. Yearbook, 1905.