The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1863-12-03
farm aud Auasehuld.
HE THAT BY rHE rLow WOULD THatvE,
HssEis xusr KrrHrR HoLi, on DRIVE.
Keeping Potatoes in Winter


wet, saggy things, grown on land
containing little or no alkali, and
and therefore good for nothing at
first, and hardly worth preserving;
but those grown on land rich in
lime and potash, or made so by
special manuring for this crop,
what is to be done to preserve
those qualities which rendered
them tho praise Of all palatos in
October, till June Of the following
yearl
Every one must have noticed
that if a potatoe be left in the hill
over winter and then plowed out
in the next May, itpossesses pre-.
cisely the same qualities it had the
previous October-has undergone
no change whatever, butts as dry,
mealy, and ready to crack open in
boiling as ever.
Now, let us sec why this is so :
The suns warmth, air and light
are essential conditions for grow
ing the potatoe and bringing it to
perfect maturity; but these same
forces, allowed still to operate,
carry it on beyond maturity, that
is, to decay.
The excellence ofthe ripe tuber
consists in its starch. But the
starch in potatoc is most abun.
dant the moment it is ri e, and it
diminishes from that time onward
just abOut in proportion as it is ex,
posed to the sun, air and light
The same infu ence which i'm.
proves its qualities to the time OF
ripening, deteriorate them. The
first step in the destruction of the
potatoe is change of its starch
into sugar. This commences with
ripeness, if the suns warmth, in
conjunction with air and light, is
permitted to operate.
To exclude these influences is
the grand secret Of preserving the
potatoe in all its original excel.
lence, BY the proper time for dig
ging potatoes, in October or No
vember-for, those to be kept should
not be dug till late-the ground
has become cold; the earth has
settled firmly around the tubers ;
the air and light are mostly exclu-
ded, and the tubers ifthe soil is of
the rich character and in the right
condition, are sure to be kept pret-
ty uniformly moist.
These bring the conditions by
which potatoes, left in the hill, are
so finely preserved, whenever they
lie SO deeply as not to be badly
frozen, we insist that analogous
conditions should be sought for
their preservation. Nature here,
as in many other cases, is a teach.
er not to DO despised. Let pota.
toes for the next summers use be
dug late-no matter how late if
only they escape being frosted /;
expose them to the sun as little as
possible, and carry them as soon
as may be to their winterquarters.
There let them be packed in cold
moist soil, "a liberal amount of
earth collected with them is rather
beneficial than otherwise. 1t is
decidedly SO for these reasons
First, the earth, at late digging,
will be cold and moist, just as it
should be to prevent the least heat.
ng. Second, the more earth the
ess will the tubers touch each
other, and the more perfectly will
air and light be excluded. Third,
the compacted ss.ofpotatoes and
earth will maintain a more uni
form temperature, and If this can
be kept near the f.eezing point,
without ever going below it, the
result will be perfect success-as
fine, mealy, well.eooking potatoes
in May, and up to the 1st of June
at least, as when the crop is first
harvested in autumn.
That tlose conditions should be
applied to the crop at largo is more
than we have reason to expect
Hence, the denizens of cities, dc.
pending on the market and not on
their own forethought, can never
expect as good potatoes in spring
and early simmer as should grace
the farmers table at all seasons.
But if the people in the country,
who grow and store their own, do
not have about as good potatoes, up
to the coming in of the new crop,
40 haarf .n.,lt x.,.ak - 2. A.