Harvesting and Storage 189 



have been considerably greater.^ The loss from rot 

 would have been much reduced if the potatoes had been 

 dug and stored one month earlier. 



The cost of all operations is calculated on the basis of 

 $4.00 a day for team and wagon and $3.00 a day for 

 man labor. 



That a storage-house built by government specifica- 

 tions and operated according to government recom- 

 mendations will keep sweet potatoes in storage in much 

 -better condition and do it more economically than will 

 a bank, has been demonstrated on a number of farms in 

 the past year throughout the entire South. 



Construction of the storage-house (Figs. 26-30). 



Many types of storage-houses are now in operation. 

 The first storage place was perhaps a cellar under 

 ground in which potatoes were kept during the winter. 

 Next came a potato house level with the top of the 

 ground, using the soil as a natural floor, filling the 

 hollow walls with earth or other filling to prevent freez- 

 ing . In this house a stove was sometimes installed to 

 facilitate drying. This was a great improvement over 

 either the pit, cellar, or bank, for being above the ground 

 it was afforded drainage and ventilation, the expense of 

 moving potatoes from storage was lessened and the use 

 of artificial heat was gained. Since this first type of 

 house was built, errors have been corrected, experiments 

 have been conducted and improvements made. 



The best type of house for the individual farmer who 

 wishes to store from ,500 to 5000 bushels of potatoes is 



1 Ala. Exp. Sta., which shows a loss of $8,946,000, representing 

 10 per cent loss from field diseases and 50 per cent from rot in 

 storage of sweet potatoes in 1918. 



