88 GARDEN FARMING 



baskets holding from | to I bushel, and carried, preferably in 

 spring wagons, to the storage house. The storage room is kept by 

 artificial heat at a temperature of 8 5 or 90 F. for the whole period 

 through which storing is in progress, and for at least ten days or 

 two weeks thereafter. The temperature during the remainder of 

 the storage period should be held constant and as near 55 F. as 

 possible. The potatoes are placed in layers or beds about 2 feet 

 deep, which may be separated by pine needles or some dry absorb- 

 ent material that will act as an insulation to the .different layers 

 of potatoes. The roots should not come in contact with an" earth 

 or concrete floor 'and should not be disturbed after storage. The 

 storage room should have a board floor, elevated 15 or ' 1 8 inches 

 above the level of the earth, so arranged that the cold air shall 

 not be admitted after the curing period has passed. .In such a house 

 sweet potatoes can be kept very successfully until February or 

 March, or even till the bedding period for the next year's crop*. 



Irish potatoes may be stored in bulk in cribs similar to those 

 used for sweet potatoes, but a common practice is to. store them in 

 bushel crates or in gunny sacks. If they are stored in crates, they 

 are arranged in tiers about 5 or 6 crates wide, and as high. as the 

 crates can be conveniently placed in the room. If stored in sacks, 

 the tiers are 3 Or 5 sacks wide, and sometimes as much as 10 sacks 

 deep. This arrangement provides alleyways between the different 

 lines of stored material, whether in crates or in sacks. 



Storage for onions. Onions are sometimes stored on racks or 

 shelves which are about 6 or 8 feet wide. They are carefully 

 spread, from 8 to 1 5 mches deep", sufficient space being allowed 

 above them to admit of inspection. The usual practice is to store 

 onions in bushel crates like those so universally used by farmers 

 for gathering the crop. The storage buildings are perfectly insu- 

 lated and vary in capacity from a few hundred to 50,000 bushels. 

 In some regions where onions are carried over for seed purposes, 

 the bulbs are spread on slat racks in open buildings where they 

 may freeze ^t the beginning of winter and remain frozen through- 

 out the whole storage period. In these cases it is very important 

 that the bulbs be protected from all possible injury. Even the jar- 

 ring of the building must be guarded against, otherwise the bulbs 

 may rot at the approach of warm weather in the spring. 



