SWEET-POTATO STORAGE STUDIES. 5 
fore beginning work each year and checked at occasional intervals 
while in use ; they were all of the 7 -day type, and the record sheets 
were changed each Monday, thus giving a continuous record for 
each storage season. 
The selection and the grading of the potatoes for each test were 
done by the investigators or by careful men under their direction. 
Shrinkage and decay were determined by weight. The percentages 
of shrinkage as recorded in the tables are progressive; that is, the 
record of loss at any period shows the total loss from harvest until 
that time. 
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Fig. 2. — Plan of the experimental storage house at the Arlington Experimental Farm, Va. 
COMPARISON OF THE KEEPING QUALITIES OF SWEET POTATOES 
UNDER CAREFUL AND UNDER COMMERCIAL HANDLING. 
To determine the effects of methods of handling on the keeping 
qualities of sweet potatoes, five tests were made to compare careful 
handling in the field and in the storage house with ordinary com- 
mercial handling. These tests were all made in good houses in the 
South. The " careful handling " was done by men engaged in the 
experimental work, and all the conditions except the one under in- 
vestigation were kept the same. Table 1 gives the results of the five 
tests in the four years 1912-13 to 1915-16, inclusive. 
Attention is called to the fact that both crate storage and bin 
storage were used in the tests. Under careful handling the minimum 
shrinkage was 5 per cent and the maximum 9.39, the average being 
7.52 per cent. The minimum shrinkage under commercial handling 
was 7.40 per cent and the maximum 20.40, with an average of 10 per 
cent. The average amount of decay was 0.45 per cent under careful 
handling and 3 per cent under commercial handling. 
