Storage of Potatoes and Other Vegetables 
By Eugene H. Grubb, Colorado 
In c-o-oiicrutiun- with scientists, (iiiil otlicis. alio liuic ctircjuJlij inicstigated the iirohlcni of conscriinff the food products that are 
unnuiilUj grown and wasted, owing to the lack of adequate storage facilities, we shall present to onr readers a scries of articles bearing 
on the construction and proper utilization of vegetable storage cellars that will meet the re(iiiircincnts, ranging from the extensive 
country estates to the sntallcr home gardens, and that will in a measure solve the waste problem. 
With the permission of the author, we publish herewith extracts from a bulletin, appearing in The lieclamation. Record of Sep- 
tember, 1917, which introduce som suggcitious. espcciallii on the subject of temperature and vcntiliation. raluable to large and small 
growers alike. Mr. Orubb, has long been recognized as one of the foremost authorities on the vulture of potatoes, both in this country 
and abroad and has carefully demonstrated all that he recommends. — Editor. 
IT is obvious that without adequate and proper stor- 
age there is al\va_\s waste. With storage this waste 
is hirgely preventable. The storage of potatoes is 
not a new science. It has been practiced for many years, 
and from the experience of those who have successfully 
practiced it, certain fundamental facts have been gath- 
ered and are given herewith : 
Potatoes cannot be stored successfully unless provision 
is made for the control of moisture and temperature, 
which can be accomplished only through good ventilation 
under control. 
To avoid loss only sound tubers should be stored. 
Potatoes skinned by rough handling, cut, frozen, or in a 
state of partial decay should not be put in storage. The 
various rots, decays and fungi diseases immediately 
attack such vegetables and quickly spread to the rest. 
Potatoes should not be poured or run down a chute 
through the roof or side of the walls into the bins below. 
Store only clean potatoes, as soil particles fill the 
spaces between the potatoes, preventing the free circu- 
lation of air and causing heat and moisture with result- 
ing rapid decay and deterioration. 
The potatoes kept for food should be protected from 
strong light, which causes them to turn green and be- 
come bitter in taste. Seed potatoes, however, are better 
if kept in the light, as the greening destroys the various 
skin and germ diseases. 
In constructing the storage plant the site should be 
selected with care. The location should be well drained, 
and if possible a knoll should be chosen. The plant 
should be placed so that advantage is taken of the pre- 
vailing currents of wind in the district, the opening being 
in line with them. By so doing these may be utilized 
in controlling moisture and regulating temperature over 
all parts of the storage cellar. 
In the Fall or Spring, when the temperature of the 
cellar tends to rise above 40° in the day times and the 
outside night temperatures are lower than this, the cellar 
and ventilators should be left open in the early morning, 
before daylight, to admit the air and cool the cellar to a 
temperature not lower than 32°. 
In the Winter, when the temperature falls to near 
freezing point, advantage should be taken of the first 
warm day, shortly afternoon, to o])en up the cellar anfl 
admit the warm air, increasing the temperature to not 
more than 40°. 
Thus in very cold weather try to hold the temperature 
to above 40° and in warm weather try to hold it at about 
32°. The results will be somewhere between these ex- 
tremes. 
I'niformity of temperature is necessary for safe stor- 
age during the long period from harvest until the crop 
is marketed or consumed, as rapid and excessive varia- 
tions of temperature hasten decay. The temperature 
should be between 32° and 40° F., and as near 36° as 
it is possible to retain. Most vegetables are not injured 
b}- a temperature of 30" if not of long duration. Ob- 
servations of temperature from at least two thermome- 
ters should be taken re.'ularly and with special care and 
433 
frequency during the periods of extreme temperatures. 
The excavation should be from 3 to 5 feet in order 
that the cellar will be at least one-half underground. 
Such excavation will result in a saving in walls and cov- 
ering and render more easy the maintenance of an even 
temperature. 
The support of the roof should be made with a frame- 
work of posts set 10 feet apart, 6 to 7 feet high, with 
plates of sufficient strength to support the rafters. 
Where timber from the forest is available the rafters 
can be placed close together, and a covering of straw 
and earth will be sufficient for the roof. Where timber 
is high priced chicken wire or woven fence wire can be 
fixed on the rafters, which are placed from 8 to 24 inches 
apart, and the straw placed over the wire. Where ob- 
tainable, willow brush may be laid on the rafters to pre- 
vent the straw from filtering through. Both brush and 
straw form good insulators. The layer of straw is from 
18 to 24 inches thick, and on top of this is placed a 
blanket of earth from 6 to 12 inches thick, depending 
upon the coarseness of the soil. When light sand soils 
only are available, boards, shingles, or roofing paper 
can be used to cover roofs to prevent leakage. 
The angle of the roof should be 25 per cent, pitch or 
more, as the air space in the cone serves a necessary and 
important function in conducting moisture and heat. 
Special consideration should be given to the matter of 
constructing the doors. These can be cheaply made of 
flooring five-eighths or three-fourths of an inch in thick- 
ness, with the inside covered with building or tar paper 
fastened on with strips of lath. The ends of the cellar 
should have bulkheads of from 2 to 5 or 8 feet apart 
to provide dead-air space. 
Ventilation can be secured for small cellars by an open- 
ing 3 by 4 feet at the end opposite the entrance. 
The dead-air space, if ample enough, can be used for, 
sorting and sacking the crop. In extremely cold weather 
coal-oil stoves can be set up in these spaces to prevent 
freezing of stock. 
N'entilators should be set in the roof like a chimney, 
with hinged lids. These are utilized in regulating the 
circulation of hot and cold air and in carrying ofif excess 
moisture and odors. The size of cellar constructed will, 
of course, denend upon the -^luantity to be stored. One 
and one-third cubic feet of space is required for a bushel 
of potatoes. 
Where there is perfect drainage, the earth is the best 
floor for the cellar, as it keeps the potatoes from shrink- 
ing and shriveling. 
These storage cellars are useful also for onions and 
fruits, except that these should be placed on raised floors 
to prevent contact with the moist earth. 
Potatoes are often harvested when the temperature in 
the field is high. It is important that the temperature of 
the potatoes should be reduced as quickly as possible 
after storing. To accomplish this the potatoes should 
not be placed more than 1 foot in depth each day, and 
tile cellar should be left open nights to admit cool air. 
{Continitcd on page 443.) 
