6 BULLETIN 1063, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table 1. — Comparison- of the keeping quality of sweet potatoes under careful 

 and under commercial handling. 



[Shrinkage and decay averages for two varieties in five storage-house tests in Southern States during four 



- seasons.] 





Test 

 No. 



Careful handling. 



Commercial handling. 



Variety. 



Weight 



at 

 harvest 

 time. 



Time 

 in 



stor- 

 age. 



Shrink- 

 age. 



Loss 

 due to 

 decay. 



Weight 



at 



harvest 



time. 



Time 



in 



stor- 

 age. 



Shrink- 

 age. 



Loss 

 due to 

 decay. 



Storage 

 recep- 

 tacle. 



Nancy Hall 



1 

 2 



4 

 5 



Pounds. 



3,062 



120 



45 



42 



9,510 



Days. 

 161 

 125 

 125 

 131 

 114 



Per cent. 

 5.00 

 9.10 

 9.39 

 8.33 

 8.30 



Per cent. 

 0.50 



.93 

 5.56 

 2.00 



.41 



Pounds. 



3,062 



120 



45 



42 



110,663 



Days. 

 161 

 125 

 125 

 131 

 114 



Per cent. 

 7.40 

 11.60 

 20.40 

 10.70 

 10.10 



Per cent. 

 1.00 

 2.08 

 15.56 

 5.00 

 3.04 



Bins. 



Nancy Hall 



Do. 

 Do. 



Nancy Hall 



Bins. 



Total 



12, 799 









113,932 















131 



7.52 



.45 



131 



10.00 



3.00 















COMPARISON OF HOUSE STORAGE AND BANK STORAGE OF 

 SWEET POTATOES. 



To compare the keeping quality of sweet potatoes in storage houses 

 and in outdoor banks or pits, several experiments were conducted in 

 the South during the three years 1913-14, 1914-15, and 1915-16. In 

 each test the methods of handling and all conditions were the same, 

 excepting the kind of storage used. The sweet potatoes were care- 

 fully handled for both types of storage and the banks were very well 

 made ; in fact, the banks were much better than the average. Sweet 

 potatoes are not stored in banks in the North and to only a small 

 extent in the colder portions of the South. In regions where freezing 

 occurs sweet potatoes stored outdoors in any kind of banks are in 

 danger of chilling, even though protected from freezing. Table 2 

 gives the results of storing 10 lots of sweet potatoes in houses and 

 in banks. 



Table 2 shows that the percentage of decay of sweet potatoes 

 stored in houses ranged from 0.5 to 2 per cent. In banks the vari- 

 ation was from 4 to 40 per cent. The average decay of all the tests 

 was 1.2 per cent in houses and 14.33 per cent in banks. The length 

 of time the comparable lots of sweet potatoes were in storage was not 

 always the same, but where there was a difference the shorter period 

 was for those in the banks. As already suggested, the potatoes 

 stored in these particular banks kept in much better condition than 

 in the usual banks. This was due to the careful handling of the 

 potatoes and to the making of good banks. 



Many ordinary banks and pits of potatoes were examined during 

 these studies. Generally the proportion of decay was between 25 and 

 50 per cent, and in some cases 100 per cent. 



