582 Transactions of the American Institute. 



a copy be transmitted to the near relatives of the deceased ; and that 

 these resolutions be published in suitable form for their preservation. 



Adjourned. 



February 23, 1869. 



Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair; Mr. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



How Much is a Barrel or Apples ? 



Mr, B. D. Flemming, of Mills Falls, West Virginia, asks this ques- 

 tion. He would know, before shipping to New York, how much his 

 barrel must contain to meet the requirements of this market. 



Mr. W. S. Carpenter. — There is no rule about it, and diflerent 

 barrels may vary as much as half a bushel. Generally, in shipping 

 to England, the barrel is full two and a quarter bushels, or scant two 

 and a half; less than two and a quarter is noticeably small. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — This answer is according to my experience in 

 the market. But there should be a given rule on this subject, and 

 vegetables ought to be sold by weight. There is gouging and dis- 

 honesty among all the small dealers in these articles, and the part of 

 the community that suffers most is the poorer part, who can ill 

 afford it. 



• ' WmTEEiNG Sweet Potatoes. 



Mr. B. "W. Steere, Adrian, Mich.— Having for twenty years raised 

 sweet potato plants for sale, preserving the potatoes till spring has 

 become as much a matter of course as keeping apples or common 

 potatoes. I use no sand, with its suifocating dust, or other packing 

 materia], the whole mystery being simply this : A register opens near 

 the top of our living room into a ventilating flue, carried up with the 

 chimney. This flue ends at the garret floor, and furnishes warm air 

 to the sweet potato room in the garret. Here, as soon as dug, the 

 potatoes are placed in barrels, which are covered with old oil cloth, 

 leaving an opening for two or three weeks to pass off" the damp ; but 

 when moisture ceases to collect on the under side of oil cloth, I close 

 up tight. The heat in this room must vary from forty or flfty to 

 eighty degrees. We occupy the room below daily, covering up the 

 fire nights. We often have sweet potatoes for the table till the slips 

 are ready to sell, thinking them all the sweeter for having lain in 

 their Avarm r^est so long. The whole secret seems to be, give them 

 heat, and plenty of it ; in short, don't let the fire go out. 



