132 



THE POTATO 



n 



While mining at an altitude of 1,000 feet in 

 Colorado, a good many years ago, the senior 

 author of this work met a prospector who was going 

 to leave the country. He said that in an old 

 tunnel would be found some supplies, including 

 twelve sacks of potatoes which had been put there 

 two years before. These the prospector gave to 

 him. The condition of these potatoes was ap- 

 parently the same as when they were dug; they 

 were not shriveled, no shrinkage was apparent, 

 they had not started to sprout, and when cooked 

 they were just as edible as when dug out of the 

 ground. There had been an airshaft constructed 

 at the end of the tunnel and through the tunnel 

 was a good current of dry air. The temperature 

 was uniformly about 40 degrees F., being in a 

 rock tunnel 200 feet below the surface of the ground. 

 In building a potato cellar he tried to get as near 

 those conditions as possible. 



The cellar illustrated is about 50 by 200 feet. At 

 each end there is a dead-air space ten feet square 

 in the form of a vestibule between the outer and 

 inner doors. This aflfords protection from freez- 

 ing. There is a driveway clear through, with 

 bins on either side, skylights and ventilators being 

 placed every ten feet. The temperature of the 

 cellar may be lowered by opening the doors and 

 letting a current of air pass through. When it is 

 too cold for this, the ventilators at the top may 

 be opened. The best ventilation is always se- 

 cured by building the cellar in line with the direc- 

 tion of the prevailing air currents. During the 

 winter the temperature should be kept as near 32 

 degrees F. as possible; it is best when it does not 

 go below 30 degrees nor above 36 degrees. A tem- 

 perature of 28 degrees F. for one or two hours will 



