SWEET-POTATO STORAGE STUDIES. 
17 
COMPARISON OF THE KEEPING QUALITIES OF FOUR IMPORTANT 
COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF SWEET POTATOES STORED UNDER 
LIKE CONDITIONS. 
Experiments were begun in 1917 to determine the relative keeping 
qualities of the more important commercial varieties of sweet 
potatoes. The Southern Queen, Nancy Hall, Big-Stem Jersey, and 
Porto Rico varieties were used in this experiment, and the purpose 
of the workers was to store these in bins in sufficiently large quan- 
tities to be comparable with commercial conditions. (Table 8.) 
Table 8. — Comparison of the keeping qualities of four standard varieties of 
sweet potatoes stored in bins. 
[Shrinkage and decay averages at a temperature of 50° to 55° F. during four seasons.] 
Room 
No. 
Weight at— 
Loss in 
weight. 
Shrink- 
age. 
Weight of 
decayed 
potatoes. 
Decay. 
Variety and year. 
Harvest 
time. 
End of 
storage 
period. 
Time in 
storage. 
Southern Queen: 
1917-18 
Pounds. 
3 2,512.50 
3 3,349.00 
3 2, 217. 81 
3 1. 498. 75 
Pounds. 
2, 119. 37 
2, 947. 81 
1, 984. 75 
1,397.25 
Pounds. 
393. 12 
401. 19 
233.06 
101. 50 
Per cent. 
15. 65 
11.98 
10.51 
6.77 
Pounds. 
20.56 
6.50 
8.94 
2.00 
Per cent. 
0.82 
.19 
.40 
.13 
Days. 
171 
1918-19 
172 
1919-20 
159 
1920-21 
164 
Total 
9, 578. 06 
8, 449. 19 
1, 128. 87 
38.00 
Average 
11.79 
.40 
166i 
3 
3 
3 
Nancy Hall: J 
1918-19 
3, 970. 56 
1,657.62 
1, 498. 50 
3, 506. 69 
1, 528. 37 
1,407.12 
463.87 
129. 25 
96.37 
11.69 
7.80 
6.43 
19.94 
13.25 
11.75 
.50 
.80 
.79 
172 
1919-20 
159 
1920-21 , 
165 
Total 
7, 126. 69 
6, 442. 19 
689. 50 
44.94 
Average 
9.67 
.63 
165$ 
3 
3 
3 
3 
Hig-Stem Jersey: 
1917-18 
1. 931. 50 
4,070.31 
2, 533. 44 
1, 498. 25 
1,699.50 
3, 473. 69 
2. 175. 25 
1, 384. 50 
232. 00 
596. 62 
358. 19 
113. 75 
12.01 
14.66 
14.14 
7.59 
91.94 
39.25 
87.31 
1.50 
4.76 
.96 
3.05 
.10 
171 
1918-19 
172 
1919-20 
159 
1920-21 
165 
Total 
10, 033. 50 
8, 736. 94 
1,300.56 
220.00 
Average^. 
12.96 
2.19 
166f 
3 
3 
Porto Rico: * 
1919-20 
2, 429. 06 
1, 497. 50 
2,111.31 
1, 336. 50 
317. 75 
161. 00 
13. 08 
11.42 
18.00 
5.25 
.85 
3.50 
151 
1920-21 
166 
Total 
3, 726. 56 
3, 447. 81 
478. 75 
23.25 
Average 
12.82 
.62 
158J 
1 Results for three years only. 
2 Results for two years only. 
For the Southern Queen the average storage period was 161^ days, 
the average shrinkage 11.79 per cent, and the average decay 0.40 per 
cent. The figures for the Nancy Hall are for three years only and 
show an average shrinkage of 9.67 per cent and 0.63 per cent decay 
for the average storage period of 165J days. The work on the Big- 
Stem Jersey was carried on for four years and showed 12.96 per cent 
