Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1892 — About Potatoes. [ARTICLE]

About Potatoes.

The greatest potato producing State in the Union is New York, which devotes to the crop (round numbers being used in all cases) 370,000 acres and raises 30,000,000 bushels, or fully one-seventh of the entire crop of the Country. lowa is second in amount raised—l7,ooo,ooo bushels; though its area of 187,000 acres is eclipsed by the 203,000 acres which Pennsylvania gives to the raising of 10000,000 bushels. Illinois comes next, both in area and quantity of product, while Wisconsin and Kansas cross each other for fifth place. The four New England States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, however, lead the country in the number of bushels produced per acre, the average for the four States being over 100 bushels an acre, which is attained by no other State, except remote Washington, which promises to become one of the finest potato-growing regions of the world. It is thus seen that the cooler climate of the Northern States is favorable to this crop, as to many others in the list of standard food supply. Indeed, the potato, as it is known and appreciated to-day, cannot be successfully grown for any length of time in the warmer climates, without the introduction of fresh seed stock from the higher latitudes. The Bermuda potatoes, which come early in the season, to gladden the heart of the housewife with “ new potatoes,” are grown from Northern seed, which is regularly imported, while the product of the island itself is shipped back to the markets of this country, and especially of the Northern States.