HARVESTING AND STORING SWEET 



POTATOES 



By 



J. C. C. Price, Associate Horticulturist 



INTRODUCTION 



Storage has proved to be the most serious problem 

 of sweet potato growing. Storage in banks, pits and 

 trenches is not always satisfactory, because sweet po- 

 tatoes require a warm, diy, rapidly changing atmos- 

 phere during the curing period, and a uniform tem- 

 perature and humidity after curing. Such conditions 

 are found only in a storage house. When the pit, bank 

 or trench methods are used from 10 to 100 per cent rot 

 and those that keep are not of as good quality as are 

 the cured potatoes. Even if potatoes would keep as 

 well in trenches or banks, these methods are not 

 economical, because too much labor is required each 

 year to make and use them. It costs ten to twelve 

 cents per bushel to bank sweet potatoes, unbank and 

 clean them for market. Potatoes cannot be removed 

 conveniently from banks in rainy or cold weather 

 without injuring the potatoes or causing decay; but 

 they can be conveniently marketed from the storage 

 house at any time without regard to weather condi- 

 tions and without damaging the rest of the crop. 



Uniformity of temperature and humidity are two of 

 the most important factors in the storage of any perish- 

 able crop. The ability to control humidity and tem- 

 perature is the most important factor in curing a per- 

 ishable crop. It is also a well established principle of 

 storage that a rapid rise or fall of either temperature 

 or humidity is not desirable. 



MAKING THE EXPERIMENTAL STORAGE ROOM 



In order to inake a thorough test of house curing and 

 storage of sweet potatoes under Alabama conditions, 

 one large room of a negro cabin (Fig. 3) standing on 

 the Experiment Station grounds, was remodeled dur- 

 ing the fall of 1914 as follows: 



The cracks in the rough board walls were covered 

 on the outside with one-half by three inch strips. The 

 walls inside were covered with building paper. The 

 rough board floor was covered with building paper 



