Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-12-22
FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
VARIOUS METHODS OF KEEP
ING SWEET POTATOES.
Use the One Which Is Most Economical
and COnvenient-GrowinG Gooseber-
ries-Ouality of Beef-nalrY Notos
and Household Helps.
Keening sweet potutoes.

crop and the surroundings, says
Farm and Fireside. The method
matters but little so the following
principles aud conditions are ob.
served:
/. A sandy clay loan is best
suited 70 strong and healthy
growth of the potato. A heavy lime
stone soil, or one strongly impreg-
mated with alkaline substances, in
jures the skin of the tuber and makes
it susceptible to rot. Avoid soils
that are heavily fertilized with
amoniacal manures.
2. Dig the sweet potato before
frost kills the vine. An injury to
the stem kills the whole tuber. Sc
lect a dry time if possible, to dig in.
Handle each potato carefully, do not
bruise nor scratch them. Do not get
them sun blistered while digging.
3. Remove from patch directly to
place of storage, and never handle
them till taken out to market or to
bed. Rot, if it sets in, may necessi-
tate an assortment, but such u con-
dition should not exist If second
handling becomes necessary, use the
greatest care.
4. The cellar or place of storage
should be perfectly dry. Moisture is
conducive to rot.
b. Let the temperature range be-
tween fifty and sixty degrees Fahren-
heit, and never lower than forty.
6. Ventilation is of vital import
ance. Top ventilation should always
be given, especially after Novem Der;
this is secured by proper construc-
tion of the pOtato-house. Never
cover the potatoes with straw or
cloth of any kind, for this prevents
the escape of moisture and injurious
gases, and often causes too high
temperature, The best cover, when
cover is used, is dry dirt or sawdust
No cover at all directly on the potato
is decidedly preferable.
An underground cellar is the east
est and most economical means of
keeping large quantity of potatoes.
These should be built where perfect
freedom from moisture can be
secured. An elevated point, with
slopes from all sides, and a deep clay
soil, is a good location. 1t is almost
impossible TO get dry cellar when
it is dug through rock strata or has
a rock bottom. A rock wall is not so
good; clay brick or wood is better
Partition the cellar into bins OF
from forty to one hundred barrels
capacity each, with air space be-
tween each bin. Let an aisle of
few feet extend the length of the
cellar, and build the bins on either
side OF it. Some varieties that are
hard to keep require smaller bins,
while other varieties can be bulked
in larger quantities. If the season
IS wet and the potatoes sappy, avoid
large bulks.
When the potatoes are placed in
the cellar, leave open the doors or
take up the floor Immediately over
the bins and leave up till cold
weather necessitates their closing.
When closed they do not need to be
opened again. Ventilation for the
rest Of the season should be given
through hatchways - one, two or
three, as the case may require
which should open above the aisle.
These hatchways should serve as the
entrance to and the exit from the
cellar, and should be left open as
much as the weather will admit
Entrance from the outside should
be provided by door or doors enter
ing the space above the cellar. These
may be opened or closed as the tenn
perature requires. Avoid always a
current OF air.
After the doors above the bins
have been closed or the floors re-
placed for the winter, they may be
covered with dirt or sawdust TO pro-
tect the potatoes against extreme
cold weather No artificial heat is
necessary by this method.
An underground cellar so built as
not to admit of the above treatment
may be so regulated as TO observe as
far as possible the above principles.
A foreground cellar may be built
upon the same plan as the under
ground cellar just described. Double
walls are necessary, and means
should be provided for artificial
heating. Pack the walls with dirt
or sawdust; also use heavy layer
above and below. The bins in this
style of house can be made in the
center with a passageway around
them. Pipes can be placed in this
passageway for hot water heating,
which is the most economical and
satisfactory means of heating.
A small quantity of potatoes may
be kept in pit dug in some dry and
sheltered place, as barn or some
clubhouse. Observe same treatment
as in keeping in cellar. Place plank
over the pit, and cover these planks
with dirt when the weather gets cold.
The sweet potato is sometimes
kept in banks like Irish potatoes and
turnips. This bank should be shell
tered and ventilated. The potatoes
should not be covered with dirt un-
til seasoned for few weeks, and not
until the weather is cold enough to
require it.