POTATO CULTURE. 65 



fectly. I wish I had a dollar for every time I ever went 

 down cellar to see to the temperature. It was, often, a 

 number of times per day. The barrels with seed in should 

 be set up off the bottom of the cellar a few inches, on strips, 

 so cold air can pass under them. Use tight barrels, and 

 cover from the air all you can. The tubers should be entirely 

 dry and cool when put away. I would not move them 

 till ready to plant. I have tried handling and shoveling over 

 to prevent sprouting, on hundreds of bushels. I would not 

 do it again. It injures the sprout and often causes it to 

 throw out side shoots. These are not as good as a new 

 sprout from the eye direct. So, don't move seed. Keep it 

 from sprouting if possible ; but if they do sprout, let them 

 alone until ready to plant ; then break the sprouts off close 

 down and let new ones grow. If you could spread the seed 

 out thinly, in the light, thus causing sprouts to grow tough 

 and stocky, and then cut carefully and plant by hand, not 

 breaking off the sprouts, this would do. But the machine 

 will break off the sprouts, even under these circumstances. 

 There is some gain to the early gardener by the above plan 

 of sprouting. They come up quicker. In our field culture 

 in this latitude we do not want to hurry them. 



Burying Seed. 



For several years I have, I know, kept my seed better by 

 burying it. This for Northern Ohio. It would not be as 

 practical 300 miles south. It may not be needed 300 miles 

 north. We had quite a heated discussion over this point at 

 the great Wisconsin round-up institute, on "Potato day." 

 It was a convention of the shrewdest growers in the State. 

 Some claimed they could do better in that climate to keep 

 seed in the cellar. Very likely. The cold comes sooner and 

 lasts longer than here. The trouble here is during the last 

 month or so before planting-time. We can not always keep 

 early potatoes cold enough to keep sprouts back. A cold- 

 storage building would be the perfect place for keeping them, 



