364 GARDEN FARMING 



the storeroom. Potatoes are marketed in ventilated barrels, in gunny 

 sacks holding 165 pounds, or more often in bulk in carload lots. 

 In some places the receptacles are half-bushel wire baskets, which 

 have the advantage of being light but strong and at the same time 

 act as a screen. The practice to be adopted will be determined 

 by the grower after a study of local conditions. 



Sorting and grading. In general, potatoes are graded by the 

 pickers in the field. This of course requires some skill and judg- 

 ment on the part of those gathering them. In localities where the 

 crop is very extensively handled, however, mechanical devices 

 fashioned somewhat after the pattern of the pea graders are used 

 for sorting and grading. In some cases a rotary cylinder is used, 

 which allows the potatoes of different sizes to pass through the 

 screen at different points, thus depositing different grades in sepa- 

 rate receptacles. Many different machines have been designed for 

 this work. Those built with two inclined swinging screens so 

 arranged that the potatoes roll off into sacks, the larger ones from 

 the topmost screen and the small potatoes from the lower screen, 

 while the dirt falls through both, are very satisfactory. This type 

 of grader is extensively used in the Colorado region. It is mounted 

 on slides and hauled through the field to receive the tubers from 

 the pickers. 



Marketing. The marketing of winter, or late, crops of potatoes 

 is on quite a different basis from that necessary in the trucking 

 region. The late crop is, in general, less perishable, especially if 

 the vines have been carefully sprayed and the tubers have ripened 

 before digging. Ordinarily, however, if the market is at all good, 

 it is more economical to ship the potatoes directly from the field 

 than to attempt to store them. There are several reasons for this. 

 The first is the expense of handling. Potatoes are a bulky, heavy 

 product, and to haul them from the field to storage pits or cellars 

 is as much work, and almost as great an expense, as to haul them 

 directly to the car for shipment. The additional cost of storage 

 equipment and the rehandling of the potatoes from storage to the 

 cars at shipping time adds a considerable item to the expense of the 

 crop. A second important consideration is the loss consequent upon 

 storage. This loss usually consists of two items shrinkage in 

 the potatoes themselves, which amounts to about 10 per cent, and 



