1 64 THE POTATO 



hoops, and secure with 3 or 4 barrel nails; then pro- 

 ceed to fill. The potatoes should be shaken down oc- 

 casionally while filling, and the barrels filled full, and, 

 if headed, the head should be put in where it belongs 

 with a screw press, so that the potatoes cannot rattle. 

 The head should be nailed firmly with shingle nails. 

 If in bags, sack them up well, and tie tight ; or sew 

 up, according to requirements. 



Bushel Boxes. For marketing early potatoes in 

 the local market bushel boxes or crates are often 

 used. T. B. Terry uses a bushel box 13x16 inches 

 and 13 inches deep, all inside measurement. The 

 sides and bottoms are of y% -inch, and the ends are 

 ^Hj-inch, white wood. Hand-holes are cut in each 

 end, and the upper corners are bound with galvanized 

 hoop iron to strengthen them. They cost $25.00 to 

 $30.00 per hundred at the factory, and weigh 6 to 7 

 pounds each. Each box has a lid, so that in change- 

 able weather the potatoes can be picked up and cov- 

 ered as fast as dug. This box holds five pecks. The 

 legal bushel for grain is 2,150.4 cubic inches, and in 

 measuring potatoes the rule is to heap the half-bushel 

 measure sufficiently to add one level peck to the two 

 level half-bushels. Five level pecks are held in 2,688 

 cubic inches. These boxes hold 2,700 cubic inches 

 when level full ; hence, they may be piled three or 

 four high on a wagon. The recent introduction of a 

 crate in which the sides fold onto the bottom when 

 not in use reduces the amount of storage room re- 

 quired by about two-thirds. These crates cost the 

 same as others, and appear to be equally strong. 



Advantages of a bushel box : 



