PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 273 



two inches between the bottom of one and the top of the other. 

 They should be raised from the floor, say four inches, and not 

 nearer any wall than three inches. Sprinkle a little sand in 

 the bottom of the box, then fill half full of potatoes, then shovel 

 in sand until the crevices are well filled, then fill up with pota- 

 toes and finish with sand, having an inch of sand above the top 

 of the potatoes. The sand should be dry, dusty, and screened if 

 possible, so that it will run well. The best time to secure it is 

 in the months of August and September. Dry it on a platform 

 of boards, in the sun, and store it away in a dry place, against 

 time of need. It will require about one-third as much bulk of 

 sand as there is of potatoes to be put up. To keep well, the 

 sweet potato needs an even temperature of from fifty to sixty 

 degs. Fah. They must have something near this, or your labor 

 is lost. If you only wish a few each year for seed, you will find 

 it cheaper to buy at reasonable prices than to try to keep them. 

 Potatoes for the table may be kept in good condition until Christ- 

 mas by simply being put away carefully in barrels, or boxes, and 

 set in a warm, dry cellar, with nothing mixed with them. If 

 some dry sawdust is scattered in with them, as they are packed, 

 around the edge, it will prevent drying too much, but it should 

 not be put in the centre of the barrel, as it might generate too 

 much heat. Do not overhaul them, even if you discover some 

 rotten ones; it would only make matters worse. Remove them 

 only as' you want them for use. 



Mr. Robinson said that it was an important fact alluded to in 

 this article, that sweet potatoes, moved after having been put into 

 Avinter quarters, are sure to begin to decay in eight or ten days. 



Mr. Burgess corroborated this statement. He had bought some 

 very fine sweet potatoes in the fall, and put them away; but in 

 two weeks every one was rotten. 



The Chairman said that sweet potatoes miglit become an impor- 

 tant crop, as they produce largely, and are not subject to disease. 

 It is difficult to keep them ; but with care they can be kept until 

 spring; they can be kept in dry sand at a temperature of about 

 fifty degrees. Mr. Thompson, on Staten. Island, cultivates them 

 successfully on well drained but rather heavy soil. In order to 

 grow the tuber short, he contends that the ground must not be 

 too mellow. He prefers to plant upon ground that has not been 

 broken up at all : he scatters long manure upon a line, and with 



[Am. Inst.] R 



