Frosts; Lifting and Storing 121 



than four or five inches long at most, so it is 

 usually necessary to cut each back before pack- 

 ing. If long stalks are left on the clumps, the 

 necks of the tubers are the more easily strained 

 because of the greater leverage. Never fail 

 when putting on the label to force the wire 

 through the stalk — thus preventing serious mis- 

 takes by mixing labels while removing from the 

 sand in the spring. 



Buy, borrow, beg, or steal all the deep wooden 

 boxes which you may need. Set them on the 

 floor and Kne with clean newspaper. Fill the 

 bottom of the boxes with live sand, fresh from the 

 pit, to a depth of about three or four inches. Lay 

 the clumps on this as closely as possible to 

 economize space, and fill the whole box with 

 sand, so that the higher tubers are covered to 

 a depth of three or four inches at least. This 

 sand must be fresh and pure. Never use sand 

 which has been lying about the potting shed 

 or which has been used in the vegetable cellar. 

 It is liable to contain the spores of rot or mildew 

 and will destroy the tubers. 



Such sand need not be perfectly dry to begin 

 with. In the dry cellar all moisture will evapo- 

 rate from it immediately. A fortnight or so 

 after packing it will be necessary to run the 

 hand down into the sand and among the tubers, 



