Excerpts from the report: In tonnage produced, potatoes are the most important horticultural crop in the United States, outranking grapes, oranges, apples, peaches, sweetpotatoes, and pears. Figures that show the range in production of these crops are given in table 1 for 1937and 1947. Potatoes are grown commercially in 47 States and are grown and shipped somewhere in the country every month in the year. This digest is a report of a study made under the Research and Marketing Act of 1946. It is the first in a series intended to cover the biology and physical handling of important horticultural crops during the marketing period.