303 The Sweet Potato 



ventilators in a remodeled house, it is sometimes incon- 

 venient to have the bottom ventilators in the floor. In 

 such cases they may be placed in the side of the wall as 

 near the floor as possible. This plan is not as good as 

 having the ventilators in the bottom of the floor, because 

 a wind blowing in the direction of the ventilators is 

 liable to cause a draft on the potatoes, which is not 

 advisable. But if care is taken to operate the ventila- 

 tors properly, this disadvantage can be offset to a certain 

 extent. 



There is nearly always a difference in temperature 

 from top to the bottom of the house. This condition 

 has been found to exist in practically all storage-houses 

 and should be overcome as much as possible by the 

 proper regulation of top and bottom ventilators. Warm 

 air naturally rises to the top and unless care is taken 

 the potatoes are likely to become over-cured at the top 

 and not cured enough at the bottom of the house. 



Commercial curing-houses. 



It will be noted that the so-called " government " 

 storage-house just described is operated by the natural 

 connection of air currents regulated with vents. The 

 problems met in operating such houses up to 5,000 

 bushels capacity are well worked out and may be suc- 

 cessfully solved by following the directions given, but 

 the very large houses in which the natural connection of 

 air currents is depended on entirely have not always 

 given the desired results. A number of specially 

 designed commercial houses are on the market which 

 are said to provide more satisfactory storage conditions. 

 Most of these are covered by patent and are erected for 

 buyers by the patent owners. Their principal merit 



