Tim,   
The wooden match company in the Duluth area was Diamond Match company located in Cloquet, MN. The GN had a line from Duluth/Superior going west through there and the NP had a branch from Carlton, MN going to Cloquet. The Milwaukee had trackage rights over the Twin Cities / Twin Ports line with rights to Cloquet also. All three lines competed for this traffic as there were other decent sized mills in Cloquet making particleboard also.  Cloquet was the terminus for the Cloquet & North Eastern Rwy which was notable for running a number of steam locomotives well into the 1960s. And several Trains photo writeups about Where to still find steam. 

Sulphuric Acid on the spuds. Well that answers it.    McDonalds wanted clean white potatoes for their fries. Maine potatoes had been sent out prior as the standard. However they could not get the uniform whiteness that the commercial market or McD wanted for french fries - so that is when Idaho took over and Maine spuds became an also ran. I recall maybe thirty years ago after some late spring skiing at Sun Valley (girls skiing in bikinis, guys in shorts and T's) my brother and I had a relaxed schedule home and wondered about going south following the UP east to Fremont and heading up from there following the old Omaha line, which was literally on the shoulder of the road at times before it was rebuilt some years ago.  On going south through Idaho, our western friends said no, no, no, they are spraying the potato fields! They want people to stay out area for three days after spraying. That was enough to convince us.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Jim Dick - Roseville, MN