Potato Investigations 
15 
ing to them were wet which resulted in relatively large losses in 
storage. Further evidence of the excessive shrinkage which follows 
the digging from wet soil is shown in the cooperative experiments at 
( Carbondale where conditions obtained similar to those described 
above. The average loss from 900 bushels, including the Peach- 
blow and Russet Burbank varieties, was 16.3 per cent. 
! To show the large amount of dirt that may be carried to the 
cellar on the tubers, the data which were obtained from the plats 
I whose crop was stored in sacks have been brot together and the 
percentages determined. In these instances the potatoes, which were 
still in the sacks in which they were taken from the field, were 
weighed just before sorting. After sorting they were weighed again, 
the difference between the two weighings representing the amount 
I of dirt which had been removed. The results are shown in Table 6. 
TABLE 6 
Storage Losses Dae to Dirt Which Adhered to the Tubers at the Time of Digging. 
Variety 
Source of Data 
Field 
Weights 
Pounds 
Weight 
Before 
Sorting 
Pounds 
Weight 
After 
Sorting 
Pounds 
Total 
Loss 
During 
Storage 
Per Cent. 
Loss 
Due to 
Dirt 
Per Cent. 
Pearl 
Variety test. New, 1-, 
2- and 3-year old Wis- 
consin seed 
9432 
9089 
8640 
8.4 
4.9 
Pearl 
Irrigation experi- 
ment. Early and late 
irrigated plats 
5708 
5514 
5325 
6.7 
3.4 
Rural New Yorker. . . 
Variety test. New and 1- 
year old Colorado seed . 
4485 
4333 
4220 
5.9 
2.6 
Rural New Yorker. . . 
Irrigation experi- 
ment. PJarly and late 
irrigated plats 
4855 
4712 
4545 
6.4 
3.5 
6.9 
3.6 
' Of the 24,480 pounds taken from the field representing the crop 
of two varieties from 20 plats, 918 pounds, or 3.6 per cent, was 
dirt, the weight of which constituted approximately one-half the 
I total shrinkage. It should be borne in mind, however, that the 
amount of dirt which adheres to the tubers varies greatly with the 
' variety, the character of the soil and its condition at the time of 
' digging with respect to moisture. 
In order to determine the internal losses of the tubers during 
