SWEET-POTATO STORAGE STUDIES. 



Table 2. — Relation of the place of storage to the keeping quality of sweet 



potatoes. 



[Percentage of loss due to decay in a storage house and in outdoor banks and pits.] 



Variety. 



Test 

 No. 



Year. 



In storage house. 



Time 



in stor- 



Weight 



at 



harvest 



time. 



Loss 

 due to 

 decay. 



In banks or pits. 



Time 

 in stor- 

 age. 



Weight 



at 



harvest 



time. 



Loss 

 due to 

 decay. 



Triumph 



Nancy Hall 



Nancy Hall 



Nancy Hall 



Triumph 



Nancy Hall 



Nancy Hall 



Mixed varieties . 



Nancy Hall 



Nancy Hall 



Total... 

 Average . 



1913-14 

 1914-15 

 1915-16 

 1915-16 

 1915-16 

 1915-16 

 1915-16 

 1915-16 

 1915-16 



Days. 

 137 

 106 

 118 

 103 

 115 

 110 

 123 

 114 

 110 



Pounds. 

 6,000 

 84,000 

 48,000 

 90,000 

 372,000 

 168,000 

 120,000 

 48,000 

 48,000 



Per cent. 

 0.60 



.60 

 1.50 

 2.00 

 1.50 



.60 



50 



1.00 



1.75 



Days. 

 124 

 106 

 102 

 103 

 108 

 110 

 120 

 114 

 110 

 110 



Pounds. 

 42,000 

 4,500 

 18,000 

 30,000 

 12,000 

 6,000 

 1,800 

 60,000 

 18,000 

 12,000 



Per cent. 

 10.00 

 17.30 

 33.30 

 11.60 

 7.30 

 6.50 

 6.40 

 4.00 

 35.00 

 40.00 



115 



984,000 



204, 300 



It is impossible to control the temperature and moisture in banks, 

 therefore in unfavorable seasons nearly all potatoes stored in them 

 are lost by decay. This was the case in many sections of the South 

 during the cold winter of 1917-18, when the banked potatoes froze. 

 More labor is required to store potatoes in banks than in houses, as 

 the pits must be made each year. It is not always possible to remove 

 the potatoes from banks when wanted, because of unfavorable weather 

 conditions, as it is not safe to open a bank of potatoes during cold or 

 rainy weather. Potatoes which have been stored in banks are of low 

 quality and decay rapidly, probably owing to lack of complete curing 

 resulting in a watery potato. But even if potatoes stored in banks 

 kept as well as those in storage houses, it would still be desirable to 

 store in houses because of their greater convenience. 



COMPARISON OF THE KEEPING QUALITIES OF INJURED AND 

 UNINJURED SWEET POTATOES. 



Some injury will result even with the most careful methods of 

 harvesting and handling sweet potatoes. The plow or other harvest- 

 ing implement cuts and bruises some of the potatoes. Some bruising 

 is incidental to handling in the field and in storing. To determine 

 tin- effects of cutting and bruising on shrinkage and decay in storage, 

 potatoes injured at digging time were sorted and kept separate. 

 For comparison, lots of uninjured potatoes of the same varieties 

 were kept under like conditions. Three standard varieties were 

 used in this experiment, which was conducted in the experimental 

 storage house al the Arlington Experimental Farm. The results of 

 tin experiment arc given in Table ■'>. 



