6 BULLETIN 1063, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table 1. — Comparison of the keeping quality of sweet potatoes under careful 
and under commercial handling. 
[Shrinkage and decay averages for two varieties in five storage-house tests in Southern States during four 
seasons.! 
Test 
No. 
Careful handling. 
Commercial handling. 
Variety. 
Weight 
at 
harvest 
time. 
Time 
in 
stor- 
age. 
Shrink- 
age. 
Loss 
due to 
decay. 
Weight 
at 
harvest 
time. 
Time 
in 
stor- 
age. 
Shrink- 
age. 
Loss 
due to 
decay. 
Storage 
recep- 
tacle. 
Nancy Hall 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
Pounds. 
3,062 
120 
45 
42 
9,510 
Days. 
161 
125 
125 
131 
114 
Per cent. 
5.00 
9.10 
9.39 
8.33 
8.30 
Per cent. 
0.50 
.93 
5.56 
2.00 
.41 
Pounds. 
3,062 
120 
45 
42 
110,663 
Days. 
161 
125 
125 
131 
114 
Per cent. 
7.40 
11.60 
20.40 
10.70 
10.10 
Per cent. 
1.00 
2.08 
15.56 
5.00 
3.04 
Bins. 
Nancy Hall 
Do. 
Do. 
Nancy Hall 
Bins. 
Total 
12, 799 
113,932 
131 
7.52 
.45 
131 
10.00 
3.00 
COMPARISON OF HOUSE STORAGE AND BANK STORAGE OF 
SWEET POTATOES. 
To compare the keeping quality of sweet potatoes in storage houses 
and in outdoor banks or pits, several experiments were conducted in 
the South during the three years 1913-14, 1914-15, and 1915-16. In 
each test the methods of handling and all conditions were the same, 
excepting the kind of storage used. The sweet potatoes were care- 
fully handled for both types of storage and the banks were very well 
made ; in fact, the banks were much better than the average. Sweet 
potatoes are not stored in banks in the North and to only a small 
extent in the colder portions of the South. In regions where freezing 
occurs sweet potatoes stored outdoors in any kind of banks are in 
danger of chilling, even though protected from freezing. Table 2 
gives the results of storing 10 lots of sweet potatoes in houses and 
in banks. 
Table 2 shows that the percentage of decay of sweet potatoes 
stored in houses ranged from 0.5 to 2 per cent. In banks the vari- 
ation was from 4 to 40 per cent. The average decay of all the tests 
was 1.2 per cent in houses and 14.33 per cent in banks. The length 
of time the comparable lots of sweet potatoes were in storage was not 
always the same, but where there was a difference the shorter period 
was for those in the banks. As already suggested, the potatoes 
stored in these particular banks kept in much better condition than 
in the usual banks. This was due to the careful handling of the 
potatoes and to the making of good banks. 
Many ordinary banks and pits of potatoes were examined during 
these studies. Generally the proportion of decay was between 25 and 
50 per cent, and in some cases 100 per cent. 
