Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1917-07-20
Potato storage On the Farm

on tue market at ulgShS tO' a
part of the crop must be held for de-
livery during the winter and spring.
Again the supply of seed potatoes must
be kept over for next years planting.
This question of how to hold pota-
toes after harvest time is to many
growers serious problem. Potatoes
are kept over winter in three ways:
In pits covered with straw and earth,
in cellars under buildings, and in
storage cellars or ''dug-outs." The
first method is cheaper to begin with
but inefficient and in the end most ex-
pensive. Potatoes stored in pits are
hard to get at unless left there until
settled weather in spring, but the
greatest difficulty with pitted potatoes
is that the grower never knows wheth-
er they are heating, keeping we'll or
freezing during the winter. Last win
ter one man in the Twin Falls district
lost enough potatoes from freezing in
one pit to pay for the construction OF
modern cellar that would hold 49,
600 SACHS of potatoes. The loss in
the state from this cause was many
thousands of dollars.
Cellars under buildings have sever
al objections. The capacity is limited,
the space is unhandy to get at, tenn
perature and humidity are difficult to
control, and ventilation is unusually
poor.
The potato storage dug-out is nm
questionably the simplest and most
efficient way of storing potatoes, The
dug-out is not an invention but rather
the result of growth or development
from the older system Of pitting pota-
toes. 1t is the result of almost fifty
years experience in storing potatoes
in the west, and, as now constructed,
is typically western institution.
In spite of the high cost of labor
and materials, many potato growers in
Idaho are contemplating the building
of dug-outs this summer. A careful
study of the subject shows that prop
erly constructed dug-out is the most
efficient and cheapest storage space on
the farm, both for winter and summer
use and for other things as well as
potatoes. Mistakes. in construction Of
the dug-out are expensive and hard to
remedy, hence it is wise to make a
careful working plan before starting
the work.
The following suggestions, though
brief, are points Of vital Importance
that have been taken from the expert
ence of the most successful potato
growers of the west:
Locate the cellar on level land or
through knoll, Never set into a
hillside. Select well drained loca-
cation.
Excavate to sufficient depth SO as to
have soil for covering top and ends
feet will usually be sufficient.
Side walls are usually required,
either posts or stone.
Make provision for light in cellar
by sufficiently large ventilatiag shafts.
Make vestibule long enough to leave
no sloping driveway outside.
A large cellar should have drive
way through it with doors at each end.
A good roof and double doors, we'll
fitted, are indispensable.
The best roof is made of soil and
straw, not because of cheapness, but
on account of their superior insulating
qualities.
Water-proofing over the soil is de-
sirable if the expense is warranted.
Rafters should be sound poles, 4
inches in diameter at small end, or
2x12 sawed stuff, and set Is inch
centers.
Purlins should be not less than
4x12-6x12 is better.
Posts should be inches at top and
not more than 10 feet between centers
A 36-foot cellar should have two rows
of posts, A wider cellar should have
four rows of posts. Be.sure of good
foundation for posts and walls.
| Stat bottoms are desirable for bins.
The cost of good potato cellar
should be between 20 to 80 cents per