29 
STORE YOUR SURPLUS FOR WINTER 
in containers made airtight by lining bot- 
tom and sides with several thicknesses of 
newspaper and covering the top snugly in 
the same manner. 
The temperature of a cellar storage room 
for potatoes should be carefully controlled 
Fig. 8 — A barrel can be made into a good storage pit for 
cabbage, turnips, potatoes etc. Barrel is placed on its 
side and covered with straw and dirt. 
to prevent wide fluctuations. A constant 
temperature around 40 degrees F. is desir- 
able. It should not be allowed to go below 
32 degrees or above 50 degrees. 
Potatoes should not be washed before 
storage. If they begin sprouting in the 
spring all the shoots should be rubbed off. 
The bins should be examined occasionally 
and any rotting potatoes removed to pre- 
vent the spread of infection. 
Bins 
Do not have one large bin for potatoes, 
as those in the center will be subjected to 
too high temperature, which will cause all 
of them to go through a sweating process. 
Too large a bin makes good ventilation im- 
possible. Open bins, not more than a foot 
deep, arranged as a shelf, as shown in Fig. 
3, are excellent for cellar storage. Another 
good arrangement of shelf storage for certain 
crops is shown in Fig. 4. 
Pits 
A small pit provided with ventilation, as 
shown in Fig. 5, is the most satisfactory. 
It is better to have several small pits than 
one large one, as the entire contents must be 
removed when a pit is opened. Place not 
more than two to six weeks’ supply in a 
single pit. 
SWEET POTATOES 
In storing sweet potatoes the important 
points to be kept in mind are that the pota- 
toes must be well matured before they 
are dug; .they must be handled with ex- 
treme care; they must be allowed J:o dry or 
cure thoroughly before storage, and they 
must be kept at an even temperature. A 
test for maturity is to cut or break a sweet 
potato and expose it to the air for a few 
minutes. If the surface of the cut or break 
dries the potato may be considered mature, 
but if moisture remains on the surface it is 
not properly ripe. In sections where frosts 
come early digging should take place about 
the time the first frost is expected, without 
regard to maturity. Care in handling is nec- 
essary to prevent bruising and subsequent 
decay. Curing is done by keeping them at 
an even temperature of 80 to 85 degrees F. 
for a week or ten days after harvesting, to 
dry off the moisture. The room in which 
this is done must be ventilated in order that 
the moisture-laden air may escape. 
For storing sweet potatoes on a large 
scale a specially constructed house is de- 
sirable. For home storage the roots may 
be kept near the furnace in the cellar or 
near the furnace chimney in a vacant up- 
stairs room or in the attic. The room 
should be kept fairly warm. After curing 
the temperature should be maintained 
around 55 degrees F. 
Care should be taken not to store sweet 
potatoes which are infested with the sweet 
potato weevil or root- weevil, one of the 
most serious pests of the Gulf region. This 
pest practically confines itself to destruc- 
tion of the tubers after harvesting. When 
the tubers are found infested they should 
be fumigated with carbon disulphid, to be 
procured at a drug store. Place the tubers 
in a box or other container which can be 
tightly closed. The carbon disulphid is a 
liquid which gives off fumes heavier than 
air, and one ounce per bushel should be 
placed in an open dish on top of the roots 
and the container closed. Do not allow 
open lights or fire in the presence of this 
gas as it is highly explosive. All badly 
affected roots should be burned. 
Fig. 9 — This shows celery set into an outdoor pit or 
trench for storage. Boards should be placed along the 
edges of the pit or trench and dirt banked against these 
boards. The tops of the celery should be covered with 
corn fodder, straw or similar covering. The celery 
may be removed easily at any time. 
APPLES 
Apple storage is simple and is desirable 
not only for those who grow their own 
apples but also for those who depend on 
the market for their supply. The one es- 
sential is that the fruit be kept in a cool, 
