138 THE POTATO 



1 



was unsuccessful, as the potatoes turned green and 

 shriveled, being then unfit for either shipping or 

 planting. On trying a mixture of lime and dry 

 sand, in the proportion of one pint of lime to a 

 bushel of sand, it was found that, while the po- 

 tatoes did not decay, they were no longer viable, 

 the lime apparently killing the eyes and thereby 

 preventing them from sprouting successfully. Dry 

 sand alone produced better results." 



In "Bulletin No. 2, Volume 8," of the Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture of the State of Maine, is 

 given the following description of a potato cellar 

 built by Hon. A. W. Gilman, Foxcroft, Maine, 

 the Commissioner: 



"This house and plan are recommended to 

 any who intend to grow potatoes for a series of 

 years. This building is located on a side hill, and 

 is fifty feet long by thirty feet wide, and serves 

 both as a storehouse for potatoes and for the hous- 

 ing of farm implements. 



"The bottom is concrete, the walls are of grout 

 coated on the outside and inside with cement to 

 prevent the moisture soaking through. They are 

 eight feet high, eighteen inches wide at the bottom, 

 ten inches at the top. The plates which are used 

 for sills and set on these walls are chambered an 

 inch and a half both on the outside and inside. 

 These pieces are filled with cement to keep the 

 cold air out. The sleepers on which the floor is 

 laid are six inches square. These are boarded on 

 top with a double floor with tar paper between, 

 and single boarded underneath, thus giving a 

 dead-air space of six inches. The rafters are nine 

 feet long, coming up nearly perpendicular, giving 



