138 POTATO CULTURE. 



potatoes are for seed, or using a large lamp, it 1 they are for 

 eating. Many are afraitl of piling up potatoes in this way 

 early in the season. All I cm say is, we have put in thou- 

 sands and thousands of bushels, and never had any trouble. 

 But for sprouting, I would not store any differently in the 

 cellar to keep over winter. To cool them off and keep them 

 so, it is necessary to have a temporary floor up six or eight 

 inches to put them on, and then board partitions a few 

 inches from the walls, to allow the cold air that you let in 

 to settle and circulate under the pile. When they are right 

 on the earth the natural warmth of the ground will keep the 

 temperature higher than a large pile of early potatoes will 

 stand without sprouting e:irly. For seed, or for our own 

 eating, I prefer to store in tight barrels and cover up, if the 

 quantity is not too large, and these barrels should be up 

 from the earth several inches, to allow of a free circulation 

 of cold air underneath. When stored right on the earth in 

 large piles, as we do in our barn, they will be wet, more or 

 less, on top ; but this does no harm unless there is disease in 

 the tubers. It is a natural process. The warmth from the 

 earth keeps the temperature of the pile up somewhat, and 

 colder night (or day) air coming in over the surface causes 

 the warmer air that rises from the tubers to deposit some of 

 its moisture on the top potatoes. It is not "sweating," as 

 some call it. If we open the doors and let a warm wind 

 blow through, the top of the pile is quickly dried. If we 

 open up in a very cold night (for fall) the top of the pile will 

 be very wet in the morning. So when we take potatoes out 

 of a cold cellar and market them on a warm day they will be 

 as wet as though taken out of water. The warm air is 

 chilled when it touches the cold potato, and can hold less 

 moisture in suspension, and simply must leave it on the 

 potato. These simple natural processes should be under- 

 stood. 



All light must be excluded from the cellar, unless potatoes 

 are covered from it, or the eating quality will soon be ruined. 



