The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-10-25
Digging and Storing Potatoes.

AS rule, we do not b ,lieve in allow
ING potatoes to remain in the ground
long after they are ripe. They are
more liable to rot, while those near the
surface are exposed to the air, become
green and bitter, and unfit for use. The
dying of the stalk indicates that the
tubers are ready for the harvest, and
they should be dug when the soil is dry:
thev are then clean and bright and
ready either for the market or to be put
away under cover. Ii dug in rainy
weather, or when the soil is very heavy,
the dirt will adhere to them, they are
much more liable to rot and not nearly
as marketable. Go into the vegetable
market, and you will notice that the
smooth, dry and clean potatoes will al
ways be selected first.
Dug in fair weather, potatoes will
soon become dry, and when they are so,
they can not be gathered up and put
into the shade too quickly. Exposure to
the sunlight very soon produces a
chemical change which renders the
tuber unfit for use. The starch is
changed to grape sugar, the tuber be-
comes green, looses its crispness,
and when cooked is neither mealy nor
agreeable to the taste. If dug early, it
may not be best to store them in the
cellar at once, lest they gather moisture
and rot. They may be spread in cool
shed or barn, and covered with straU
until the weather becomes cool enOug;
to put them in the cellar with safety.
The shrinkage of potatoes between TIA
time of digging apd the following
spring amounts to from ten to twenty
per cent. and this should be takes
into account in marketing them,
Freshly dug potatoes are three-fourthi
water, but evaporation slowly takeI
place during the winter and spring, re,
ducing the watery portion, and render.
ing the tuber of greater relative valUs
as food The old method of storing
potatoes in pits is nearly abandoned,
though it may still be practiced in new
ly-settled portions of the country. We
can we'll remember when the potato
hole" was an institution on almost
every farm. and it was regarded as q
good method of keeping them through
the winter If well stored, they al
ways came out nice in the spring. but
that was before the days of the potato
rot, and the system mi light not prove as
satisfactory now.
A good potato cellar should be dry.
capable of being made perfectly dark
and of being quickly and thoroughly
ventilated. If the cellar is thoroughly
dry, the tubers might be stored upon
the floor. but this is not generally the
case, and it is usually best to construct
bins whose floor is raised somewhat
above the cellar bottom. Board parti-
tons may be used to separate varieties:
there is much less danger of rot in this
arrangement, and greater opportunity
is given to pick them over in case rot
ting should begin. Temperature is one
of the factors in keeping potato. The
terminating power of potato is in.
jured, if not destroyed, when exposed
to temperature below thirty degrees,
and it commences to grow at temper
ature above fifty degrees. Then a Gel
lar that could be kept within this range,
or better still, from thirty-two to forty
degrees, ought to furnish sound pota-
toes until spring, and that would sprout
freely. A light sprinkling of lime upon
potatoes when stored is preventive
against potato rot. Potato rot is par
asitic fungus, snd the lime destroys Enc
germ.-Maine Farmer.