igo 



FARM CROPS 



always to be had, bins about 4 or 5 feet wide, of 

 convenient length, and provided with a floor a few 

 inches above the ground, will serve the purpose very 

 well. The bins should not be filled to exceed 6 feet 

 deep. Have the floor raised rather than on the 

 ground, to allow a free circulation of cool air and to 

 keep off possible moisture in the ground. 



If kept in the cellar put the seed potatoes in 

 barrels and set the barrels on sticks so as to be free 

 from the ground to allow cool air to circulate 

 around the barrels and to prevent mold from col- 

 lecting on the head and thus making it moist. Use 

 tight barrels and shut out the air all you can. Keep 

 as cool as possible, but, of course, do not allow to 

 freeze — the best authorities say 35 degrees is the 

 best temperature for seed — and keep the tempera- 

 ture as uniform as you can. Here is where the 

 cold storage building comes in handy. 



Seed Potatoes Out of Doors. — At digging time 

 put the potatoes into the cellar and leave them 

 there until cold weather sets in. Then clear a place 

 on the north side of a barn or hedge and on a cold 

 morning, when cloudy and near freezing, bring out 

 the potatoes. Pile them on top of the ground, not 

 in trenches, but in long narrow piles, and covered 

 with a thick layer of straw, beginning at the base 

 and topping out with a layer a forkful thick. This 

 is covered with a layer of earth 4 inches thick and 

 then left until heavier frosts come, but not hard 

 enough to injure the tubers. Another layer of 

 straw is now added and another layer of earth 10 

 to 12 inches thick and steep enough to shed water 

 well. Then sometime in February or March, when 

 the earth begins to warm up, the snow is cleaned 

 off and a thick covering of straw or mulching 



