POTATO SHIPMENTS HEAVY.
White Potatoes.—Wholesale prices of potatoes slumped considerably during the week, probably as a result of liberal supplies. Although the week’s shipments showed a decrease, arrivals on the New York market were nearly 550 cars. Chicago received about 400 cars. No. 1 Irish Cobblers from the Eastern Shore of Virginia reached a low point of $1.50 per bbl. in nearby cities, a loss of $1 or more. At the same time last year the jobbing price was $4–$4.50. Car-lot sales in Chicago averaged about $3 last week. Kansas sacked Cobblers, many dirty, closed at $1.15–$1.25 per 100 lbs. The Chicago range on partly graded Early Ohios was 85¢ for Kaw Valley stock, $1–$1.15 for Minnesota stock, and $1.25 for Nebraska stock. New Jersey Cobblers, in 150–lb. sacks, jobbed at $1.25–$2 per sack in important eastern markets.
Jersey shipping points were reported dull and slow at the close of the week, although shipments from that section exceeded those from any other State, having amounted to almost 1,400 cars, compared with 530 the previous week. Eastern Shore of Virginia shipments filled only 1,100 cars, a decline of 400, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland marketed less than 500 cars of potatoes last week. Movement from Kaw Valley declined sharply. The season in the Kearney district of Nebraska was not yet in full swing.
Watermelons.—There was little change in the jobbing price of watermelons. Georgia shippers handled 50% more business than during the week ending July 22, but the season in that section will not last long. As the movement waned in South Carolina it became more active in North Carolina, about 275 cars having come from the latter State. Southeast Missouri is coming along fast. From the Sulphur-Springs-Omaha district of Texas about 1,000 cars of watermelons are expected, and the Weatherford district may ship 600 cars. Texas melons will be most abundant the first week of August, rainy weather having delayed the season in north Texas.
Cabbage.—New York shipped its first car of cabbage last week, as did Michigan, also. About 80% of the week’s supply, however, came from Iowa and the Roanoke section of Virginia, each of those sections having furnished about 60 cars. Colorado cabbage also is becoming plentiful. In five counties of southern Michigan the cabbage acreage is estimated at 1,285 acres, compared with 590 acres in 1921. About 1,400 acres are reported from Saginaw County in northern Michigan.