Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1909-10-01


the soft ground. Some machines of
this type have a sacker or loader at
tachments. These attachments do
not work very satisfactorily as there
are always stones, sticks, clods or
other undesirable things which go
into the sacks. This objection may
not hold when grader is used Four
horses and one man can dig from
four to six acres in ten hours with
an elevator digger.
Handling and Storing
Picking Up. After the tubers are
drought to the surface they should be
handled as little as possible. Any
Iextra handling not only Is expensive
but bruises the tender skin and in
jures the keeping quality. At pre-
lsent most of the Washington potato
lcrop is handled in sacks. A few farm
ers are using the bushel crate.
In picking up, some farmers scat
ter the sacks out along the rows
where most convenient for the pick
ers, and some require each picker to
take sack or sacks (about 30 in
number) and when he gets his bas-
ket full (about one bushel, to take
out one sack and throw the remain
| der ahead to where the next sack
will be needed. he empties two bas-
kets into the sack, which should COM
pletely fill it; and when he gets the
third basket filled he finds himself
at his sacks again, and so on until
his sack of sacks is empty The
teamsters who are hauling from the
field are supposed to drop these sacks
at the most convenient places for
the pickers. The sacks are settled
we'll and sewed up tight, to mini
mize rubbing.
The average days work for the
common run of pickers is sixty sacks
when the yield is good. Plenty of
good pickers will pick ninety sacks
per day when paid by the sack.
know of one farmer in the state who
picked and sacked one hundred
sacks in ten hours.
The writer believes that when
sacks are less used for wheat, a large
proportion of the farmers will use
bushel crates for picking up the po-
tatoes and that they will be ship
ped in bulk, instead of sacks. The
first cost of crates is very little more
than for sacks, and if properly cared
for they will last for years. They
are handy to use in the field and are
easily loaded onto a platform wagon
Grading. The Washington grower
lshould pay m ore attention to the mat
ter of grading. The retailer wishes to
display tubers uniform in size, shape
and color, and he is willing to pay
extra to get them. A number of
buyers and commission men were con-
suited on the subject, and all said
that potatoes frequently come to
them of all sizes, shapes and colors
in one sack and they can pay only
a low price for them. When proper
care is given to the selection of seed
and the rotation of crops, there is
no trouble with mixed colors. The
grading for size and shape can usual
| ly be done when the potatoes are
picked up. If the laborer cannot be
| depended upon to do this, a grader
Ich ho
several graders on the market which
do satisfactory work.
For the high-class home market
| it pays to grade carefully and wash
and pack early potatoes into boxes
The extra returns will more than
pay the expense of putting them up
in good condition.
Storing. Potatoes are successfully
stored in several ways. One common
method is to level off a space in a
well-drained place and pile the pota-
toes on the surface in cone-shaped
piles, eight or ten feet in diameter
and three feet high, or in long piles
are Immediately covered with a little
straw and enough soil to keep the
straw on and the light and the frost
out. AS the weather gets colder,
more soil is thrown on. If the po-
| tatoes are covered deeply without
ventilation soon after digging, they
are likely to heat and decay Venti-
lation for week or ten days is suffi-
cient, provided the weather remains
cool.
Any cool, frost-proof cellar or
root-house is suitable for the storage
of potatoes. Most root-houses can
be kept cool If proper ventilation is
provided. If the storage is too warm
early in the season, it can be