The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-11-13
HakVBSTlN0 AND STORING PO-
TATOES.

Very many farmers imagine that the
longer potatoes are allowed to leon the
ground in the fall, the better will they
keep through tho winter. This Is the
msEsst hllsoy. Potatoes should be
dug - soon A. the vines are entirely
dead and dry. So long as the vines
retain sap, % long the pototoes i'm.
prove in quality, if DOT 10 quantity.
Those farmers who imagine that late
potatoes should not be dug until just
before tho ground freezes up, very Of
ten get caught, and find their crop
either frosen up in tho ground or 50
badly frost.bitton as to be almost worth.
less. This would be especially disas.
trous this season, since, from pres.
ent appearances, potatoes will be ono Of
the dearest commodities in the market
by next spring. Indeed, so scarce may
potatoes become before planting time
that it may become necessary to save the
small potatoes for seed, . thing TO- be
deprecated except in time Of great
scarcity. This plan may be adopted CO.
oasionally without detriment to the
crop, if the usual practice has been to
save only large, fair potatoes for seed.
Our plan is, to save only fair, smooth,
medium.sized potatoes for seed, picking
them over for this purpose as carefully
as We would seed corn. These We 20
through again for those which We in.
tend to use Is our own seed We ther
unhesitatingly plant all, large and small,
for the market crop. In digging them
We again select sufficient quantity fol-
seed from the 10. planted for this pur.
pose, and by this means wo have never
lost crop Of potatoes yet from the rot.
Potatoes for eating should never be
exposed to the light longer than to dry
them sufficiently for putting away.
If too carly for placing in the cellar,
and they are better lett until near the
advent Of really cold weather, place
them il convenient heaps, in such 20.
sitions that they may not become damp
from tho bottom, aud cover With slough
hay or straw and about six inches Of
earth, leaving q straw chimney at the
top to carry off sweat or any gas that
may Be- given of. Then At the p.ops,
time place them in = cool, dark, dry
cellar, OF cover With An. additional
thick coat Of straw and eight Or ten
inches mora of earth, and they arc
safe for ths winter. The frost will no,
penetrate through the inside coat oil
earth 70 tho potatoes beneath.
In digging potatoes by hand, throw
two rows Of potatoes together, and in
picking them up, pick first the mer.
ohantable potatoes and afterwards the
small ones. This saves time, and also
insures that you do not have the large
and small together when you are ready
to sell. The small potatoes measure
but little, but they seriously damage
the sale Of the potatoes; 80 that the
farmer who sells large and small pota.
toes together is really cheating himself
more than soy one else, and serves him
right, too.
If one BE- raising many potatoes each
year, cay Eve acres or over, it is essen
tisl that he have plow adapted for
digging them. There are a number of
such plews 10 the market now that
should be purohasable for about twenty
dollars each, so there is but little ex.
ouse for digging BY hand if tho land
have been kept clean and unless
such is the intention at planting time,
the planting had better be omitted.
With the land dry aud in good condi-
ton for working, a crop Of potatoes NAY
be gathered for about ooe-half of the
price that it will cost to dig them by
hand alone.
It is proper to add that, when we ad-
wise that potatoes be not allowed to lie
in the ground after the vines are dry
We do not mean the rule to apply to po-
tatoes ripeuing in summer when Affect
cd with disease. 10 this case We al.
ways allow the crop to lie in the earth
until every diseased potato is decayed j.;
for If 30 allowed to remain you may
save part of the crop, but if dug and
allowed to remain 10 piles, the infection
will spread until often there will not be
. sound potato LETT Western Rural