SWEET-POTATO 



SWEET-POTATO 



621 



saw-horse and a sack or two filled with straw, the 

 potatoes can be piled in the bins to a height of 

 eight or nine feet with very little bruising. 



The storage house should be thoroughly heated 

 and dried out for two or three days before the first 

 potatoes are put in it. The weather is usually warm 

 at that time, so that the temperature may easily be 

 run up to 80° or 90°, or even 100°. While the 

 potatoes are being put into the house, it should be 

 heated to about 90°; any temperature from 80 to 

 100° will do. Considerable ventilation should be 

 allowed. Under no conditions should the house be 

 heated above 90° for long periods without rather 

 free ventilation. With temperatures above 80° 

 the newly dug potatoes undergo a sweating process 

 and give off much moisture, which often condenses 

 on their own surfaces. The air of the room becomes 

 extremely damp, and if not removed the house soon 

 reeks with moisture. The purpose is to warm the 

 house by passing currents of warm air over the 

 potatoes and out through the ventilators. A tem- 

 perature of about 90° should be maintained day 

 and night while the potatoes are being put into the 

 house, and for ten days to two or three weeks after 

 the last potatoes are in. When the house is thor- 

 oughly dried the air feels dusty and dry and the 

 potatoes feel soft and velvety, when they are said 

 to be kiln-dried. Whatever bruises may have been 

 given them and the broken ends where they were 

 snapped from the vines are thoroughly dried and 

 healed over, and they are then in a condition to 

 keep through the winter. As a result of this dry- 

 ing they have shriveled slightly and undergone 

 some physiological change not fully understood. 

 The young or immatured roots sometimes shrivel 

 seriously, but well-matured potatoes remain plump. 

 Frequently there is considerable sprouting' in the 

 bins, which may be regarded as a sign of too 

 much moisture or too-long delayed movement of 

 the moisture out of the bins. But the sprouting is 

 not a bad sign, since sprouting potatoes do not 

 decay. 



When the house is found to be thoroughly dry, 

 the temperature may be reduced. About this time 

 of the year cool weather naturally comes on and 

 this, in connection with lighter firing, should allow 

 the house gradually to cool down. The drop should 

 be made slowly ; the first week it may be down to 

 75°, the next week to 70°, until finally a stationary 

 temperature between 55° and 60° is reached. This 

 is maintained throughout the winter. Temperatures 

 above 60° cause slightly more shriveling than may 

 be necessary and are conducive to more sprouting 

 than is desirable. Temperatures below 55° may 

 not prove injurious, especially if they are only of 

 short duration, but they are not advisable. Some 

 growers keep their houses for weeks at a tempera- 

 ture of only 45° ; but the margin between freezing 

 and chilling temperatures is dangerously small 

 when a house is kept so cool. No matter how mild 

 the winter day, it is necessary to keep some fire in 

 the house in order to keep the movement of mois- 

 ture toward the outside. If the house becomes 

 cooler than the outside air the moisture condenses 

 i.i the house. On the other hand, some growers 



prefer to keep their sweet-potatoes at 70° or 75°, 

 or about the temperature of the ordinary living- 

 room. It may be said in a general way that the 

 conditions of the ordinary living-room are ideal for 

 sweet-potato storage except that the temperature 

 is 10° to 15° too warm. 



Light is supposed to be objectionable, but seems 

 not to be seriously so. As a rule, the windows of 

 the storage house should be covered with shutters 

 to keep out the light. After the potatoes are 

 thoroughly dried out, and while the house is being 

 gradually cooled, the amount of ventilation should 

 be reduced correspondingly, and finally, when the 

 temperature is settled for the winter, the venti- 

 lators may be closed or nearly so. If under these 

 conditions on a cool night there is pronounced 



, 847. Sweet-potato storage house. Note sortmg benches 

 and the sorters grading as crop is received. 



' sweating on the windows, it is better to continue 

 slight ventilation for a few days longer, especially 

 when it is sunny and dry outside. When a rainy or 

 damp spell occurs during the process of drying, it 

 is better not to let in much of the outside damp 

 air, and this will necessitate corresponding reduc- 

 tion in the firing. On the other hand, on a dry day 

 a very hot fire can be built and plenty of venti- 

 lation given. The process of curing under these 

 conditions proceeds rapidly. 



When the house is once thoroughly cured, ship- 

 ping can begin at any time, when the price or 

 market demand justifies. As a rule, stored potatoes 

 are not shipped until about Thanksgiving time, 

 when the ordinary unstored stock is either used up 

 or is of such poor quality as to offer no competition. 

 Some growers prefer to hold their entire supply of 

 potatoes until late winter or early spring, but ordi- 

 narily shipping begins as soon as cool weather comes 

 on. The bin should never be disturbed until ship- 

 ment is to begin. The potatoes in storage will not 

 stand moving. Unfortunately their life is limited 

 after being taken from the storage bin. While a 

 stored sweet-potato may keep until May, if left in 

 the place where cured, when taken out and barreled 

 it will probably rot in about a month. Even at the 

 end of a week a barrel of stored potatoes may be- 

 gin to show some rot, and at the end of two or 

 three weeks a good many rotten ones may be found. 

 On the other hand, a single potato may often be 

 taken from the top of the bin, carried into the 

 house and kept for weeks. Even the movement or 



