Temporary Storage. 



It is sometimes necessary to store potatoes temporarily in the field. The 

 potatoes should be placed in piles in a dry part of the field, covered with straw, 

 with a little earth thrown over it. Add more straw and earth in cold weather. 



Cellaur Storage. 



Potatoes should be dug as soon as the tops have died, and as far as possible 

 before there is danger of much soil freezing. They should be dried for a day in 

 the open air, and stored away in boxes, crates, barrels or small bins in the cellar. 

 Room for air circulation must be given, allowing not less than 4 inches space 

 between bins. Storage should be arranged for in the coolest and best ventilated 

 room of the cellar. It is essential that it be possible to exclude cold air in mid- 

 winter so that no danger of frosting be incurred. A room on the north side per- 

 mits exclusion of the sunlight. \'entilation can be carried on in the fall by means 

 of a window ; and a slide in a double window on the outside during the winter. 

 It is better to use a ventilating chute or air duct carrying cool fresh air to the 

 floor. Put a damper in the air duct. A hinged or slide door in the sasti can be used 

 as outlet for warm air. The window must be darkened somewhat to prevent 

 growth. Most roots can be safely stored in the same room and help to main- 

 tain suitable moisture conditions. 



Commercial Storage. 



With greater quantities of potatoes to be stored more definite provision for 

 aeration and protection is required. \'arious types of storage are used such as 

 dug-out pits or root-houses, insulated frame structures, and cold storage houses. 

 W^here potatoes are the main crop as in Aroostock Co., Me., and in parts of 

 New Brunswick, large houses with a drive down the middle and bins on each side 

 are used. 



For the farmer, the dug-out pit or root-house is of ample size and can be 

 adopted to conditions admirably. The full length of the store house may often be 

 dug in the side of a hill or the slope near the barn. It should be placed in as dry 

 and convenient a situation as possible.. Make the excavation the size of the cellar, 

 using the soil taken out for covering the roof and banking the sides. Set two 

 rows of posts of uniform height in the bottom of the pit near the dirt walls, and 

 a third line of posts about five feet higher along the centre of the pit. On these 

 posts is supported the planks forming the roof. Make double doors at one end, 

 and put a ventilator in the roof. On the roof, place sod, then soil, and add a layer 

 of strawy manure, one to four feet thick to keep out frost. 



The potatoes are placed best in aerated crates or bins with ventilated partit- 

 ions, on a false floor two or four inches above the dirt, board, or cement floor. 



