The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1895-12-28
FARMER AND PLANTER.
S WEET POTATOES.
To Keep Well the Tubers Must be Prop
erly Harvested.

To Keep Well the Tubers Must be Prop !
eriy Harvested.
To keep sweet potatoes well they
must first be properly harvested. II
the crop be intended for stock feed it
is much cheaper to let the stock har-
vest it. Cattle may be turned on first
to eat the tops and vines, atterward
hogs may be turned on 20 harvest the
tubers- In this way nearly all the
crop may he saved at minimum cost.
If the potatoes are to be dug it IS inn
portan, to know when to dig them
The crop should not be dug when the
sap is active in the vines. If, when a
tuber is cut, the cut place partially
heals over and becomes dry the crop
is usually ready to be harvested.
But IL the cut place turns greenish
black the crop is not ready to be har-
vested.
Vines are great nuisance in har-
vesting sweet potatoes. There are two
different ways of getting rid of Them
One is to Craze them off, and the other
is to cut them off. We have used
sharp rolling cutter on the beam of q
turning pillow Just in front of the pillow
point successfully. This rolling cut
ter cuts the vines off each side of the
row while some dirt was thrown away
drom the row at the same time. The
third'time the turning pillow was run
in the center of the rows and the po-
tatoes thrown out The tubers we're
then gathered and sacked. Care must
be taken not to bruise them as the soft
rot is apt to start at all bruised places.
All bruised tubers should be sorted
out and feH at once before storing.
We have tried Fositite, Bordeaux mix
ture, liRe9an sand keeping sweet
potatoesi but neither one proved
effectuaL3 in preventing the
spread !. of black rot. We have
obtaineW good results by letting the
tubers eemain in the ground wher.
they grsw until wanted. BY throwing
dirt oves the rows with turning pillow
it will prevent them from freezing in
this CLIMATE. Further work, which is
now in Progress, is necessary in this
line Def Pre- positive recommendations
can be given as to the best method to
prevent, injury by black rot If the
potatoes are to be stored away they
must be dried first, and those which
decay from soft rot must be taken on
frequently. In about two weeks after
digging they will be dry and the sof
rot win stop. The potato house w,
have used in keeping potatoes, boil
sweet and Irish, is shown in bulletin
now in press. 1t consists of two outel
walls with a dead-air space between
Also two doors. a double floor and ;
ventilator.- The ventilator may b.
opened and closed at will
During warm days in tn
fall the doors are left opel
for further ventilation. Insid
are upright pieces which project fror
the floor to the ceiling. Strips reacl
from these across to the walls; o
these pianks are laid lengthwise, whic
IRE nailed also against the sides of tn
posts, thus forming long boxes. Tn
potatoes are stored in these and DIR
road sand mixed with them. Mice ca
not go through dry sand Potatoe
kept well in this house last winte
when the temperature went down a
low as Z degrees Fab, and not one pc
cent was injured by freezing.
The sand must be changed every yea
for sweet potatoes, because it is yer
apt to contain spores of diseases whic
will infect the next crop Where "
did not change the sand nearly all I'll
crop was lost from black rot. The p
tatoes that have kept best are Brazi
ian, Bronze, Canal, Shanghai an
Southern Queen. The purple skin VI
rieties have resisted the diseases hes
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