UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



S^fr'^mTU 



BULLETIN No. 1063 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



May 29, 1922 



SWEET-POTATO STORAGE STUDIES. 1 



By H. C. Thompson, formerly Horticulturist, and James H. Beattie, Horticul- 

 turist, Office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Importance of the sweet-potato 



crop 



Preliminary studies 



Objects of the experiments 



Methods of procedure 



Comparison of the keeping qualities 

 of sweet potatoes under careful 

 and under commercial handling-- 

 Comparison of house storage and 

 bank storage of sweet potatoes — 

 Comparison of the keeping qualities 

 of injured and uninjured sweet 



potatoes 



Comparison of the practices of sort- 

 ing and not -sorting stored sweet 

 potatoes 



Comparison of the keeping qualities 

 of various varieties of sweet pota- 

 toes 



Comparison of the keeping qualities 

 of sweet potatoes when stored at 

 different temperatures .. 



Keeping qualities of sweet potatoes 

 stored in bins and in crates 



Relation of the temperature in the 

 bins to the temperature of the 

 surrounding air 



Comparison of the keeping qualities 

 of four important commercial 

 varieties of sweet potatoes stored 

 under like conditions 



Summary 



Page. 



10 



I:; 



13 



15 



17 

 18 



IMPORTANCE OF THE SWEET-POTATO CROP. 



The sweet potato is second in importance of the vegetable crops, 

 being exceeded in value only by the Irish potato. In 1920 approxi- 

 mately 1,085,000 acres of land in the United States were devoted to 

 the production of sweet potatoes. The estimated production was 

 1.12,368,000 bushels, with a farm value of $126,629)000. The greater 

 portion of the crop is produced in a few of the Southern States, the 

 important producing States being Alabama. Georgia, Mississippi, 

 North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina, and Louisiana. 



i Daring the progrei <«r tbls worli ■■< I tance was rendered by H. M. Qonolly, fo 

 •I. hortlcultori t; P. K. Sillier, former)] horticulturist i and C. J. Hiinn, ai 

 borticultorijtt, Office ol Horticultural ;> nci ['omologica] Investigation 

 87029^- -22 1 



