14 
BULLETIN 1063, U. 
S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
tity; but in bins the decay is likely to spread throughout the large 
bulk of the potatoes. It is asserted also that less injury occurs in 
handling where small containers are used, because the potatoes are 
placed in the receptacles in the field and are not disturbed until pre- 
pared for market ; but when stored in bins the potatoes are gathered 
in baskets and dumped into bins, and some bruising will occur even 
with the most careful workers. In ordinary commercial handling- 
there is considerable bruising. 
Experiments were begun in 1917 to study the shrinkage and decay 
in three standard varieties of sweet potatoes stored in 1 -bushel crates 
and in bins. The bins used were about 4 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 7 
feet high, although the potatoes were seldom more than 5 feet deep 
in the bins. After the potatoes were plowed out they were placed in 
1-bushel crates and hauled directly to the storage house. Those put 
in bins were first cleaned and weighed. The potatoes intended for 
the crate experiments were cleaned and placed in weighed crates, and 
the total weight was then recorded. The crates were not disturbed 
until the end of the storage season. In the room where these experi- 
ments were conducted the temperature was maintained between 55° 
and 60° F. The average temperature in this room is shown in fig- 
ure 1. 
Table 7 presents the results of these experiments for 1917-18 and 
for 1918-19. 
Table 7. — Relation of the storage reeeptaele to the keeping quality of street 
potatoes. 
[Shrinkage and decay averages of three standard varieties stored in bins and in crates during two seasons.] 
Storage 
recep- 
tacle. 
Time 
in 
stor- 
age. 
Average weight at— 
Variety. 
Harvest 
time. 
End of 
storage 
period. 
Loss in weight due 
to shrinkage. 
Loss in weight due 
to decay. 
Big-Stem Jersey 
/Bin 
\Crate.... 
/Bin 
\Crate.... 
/Bin 
\Crate.... 
/Bin 
\Crate. . . . 
Days. 
171J 
154 
172 
162 
171* 
154 
171* 
156* 
Pounds. 
3,000.90 
144.16 
3,970.56 
131. 94 
2,930.75 
151. 72 
9,902.22 
427. 81 
Pounds. 
2,586.59 
121.66 
3,506.69 
117. 00 
2,533.59 
129. 28 
8, 626. 87 
367. 94 
Pounds. 
414. 31 
22.50 
463.87 
14.94 
397.15 
22.44 
1,275.34 
59.87 
Per cent. 
13.80 
15.61 
11.18 
11.32 
13.55 
14.79 
12.88 
14.02 
Pounds. 
65.59 
1.69 
19.94 
.19 
13.53 
.56 
99.06 
2.47 
Per cent. 
2.18 
1.17 
.50 
Nancy Hall » 
Southern Queen 
Average for three varieties. 
. 14 
.48 
.37 
1.00 
.57 
1 Only one year, 1918-19. 
Table 7 shows that the average shrinkage for the three varieties 
was greater in crates than in bins, although the difference was not 
as great as is commonly supposed. The average percentage of decay 
was a little greater in the bins than in the crates, although it was 
so slight that the difference is not of great importance. Under less 
favorable conditions the differences might be greater. 
