258 Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 



Storing. 



The harvesting of sweet potatoes is a simple operation ; 

 the vines being removed, a man plows the crop out with a 

 large two-horse plow. It is necessary to set the plow deep 

 enough and to have one wide enough to turn the hills out 

 completely ; a small plow and a shallow furrow will cause 

 too many potatoes to be cut. In a sandy loam there is 

 little else left to do than to pick up the crop. 



The storing may be done in houses or banks. A sweet 

 potato house may be built of planks covered with sod and 

 the cracks filled with clay. The temperatm-e should 

 remain as low as possible without freezing ; there are only 

 occasional days when it will be cold enough to freeze, but 

 as they are liable to occur every winter, one must prepare 

 for them as though they occurred more frequently. 



A dry place should be selected, as convenient and as 

 safe as possible. If the spot does not shed water, a bed 

 of corn-stalks about 8 feet wide and as long as desired 

 should be made. The potatoes are piled on this bed in 

 an A-shaped pile about six feet high. This pile is packed 

 with corn-stalks, rice straw, or boards, and covered with 

 loam to the depth of 4 to 6 inches. If straw is used, a 

 layer should be packed around the base of the pile, then 

 another higher up, and so on; this will cause it to turn 

 water out. In banking the soil, the same method should 

 be followed. A number of ventilators should be made of 

 boards. These should be perforated with auger-holes, 

 and run through the central part of the heap. They 

 should be so fixed that the rain cannot enter through them. 



A small quantity of sweet potatoes may be kept by 



