STORING AND KEEPING. 49 



hill of potatoes heats from liaving too much strain on 

 the top, and many a hill freezes from not having earth 

 enougli around the bottom. The opening of the top of 

 the hill should always be left uncovered until the pota- 

 toes are thoroughly cured, whether kept in houses or out 

 of doors." 



Wintering in Sussex County, Va. — They dig pits 

 underneath their top-fodder stacks, which are in the 

 shape of an A, or a housetop with a square roof. These 

 pits are from one and a half to two feet deep, and as 

 wide as the stack will admit — the length from fork to 

 fork that supports the top pole of the stack. Before 

 storing the potatoes away, they have the sides and ends 

 of the pits well planked up, and the bottoms covered 

 about two inches thick with pine beard (pine tags). 

 They also have a layer of pine beard up the sides and 

 ends, about the same thickness as that which covers the 

 bottom. This layer is i^laced along as the potatoes are 

 packed away, the pits being nearly filled with potatoes. 

 They are then covered over lightly with pine beard, 

 and the covering finished with poles and earth which is 

 to be thrown on last, lightly, taking care to stop the 

 apertures between the poles, so that no earth can pass 

 through. In this way hundreds of bushels in pits are 

 kept without the loss of five. Care should be taken be- 

 fore storing away potatoes for winter markets or home 

 use, to have them carefully picked over, and all such as 

 are cut, broken, or bruised, thrown out ; to avoid bruis- 

 ing potatoes much, they should be handled carefully and 

 lightly. With a view to keep potatoes in this way, stacks 

 may be made up on elevated places, so that the water 

 may pass ofE without soaking into the ground — thereby 

 the pits are kept perfectly dry, which is all-important. 



Out of a large quantity of potatoes kept in this way, 

 there was not a half bushel injured. 

 3 



