Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-10-16

u
crop in a commercial way. 1t make no
difference whether the house is large or
small so it is built in proper proportion
This is very important fact to bear in
mind. but since the crop is so univer-
sally grown and SO desirable in all re-
spectS as a source of food, it will pay A
large per cent of our people to make
little sacrifice and put up permanent
storage house rather than depend on
make-shift methods of keeping sweet
potatoes which have been followed so
long and which 1t is regrettable TO say
result in the long run in the loss of
from ten to eighty per cent of the crop
The loss of the crop during year when
potatoes sell at a fair price is probably
sufficient to pay for the cost of building
a satisfactory house or kiln in which TO
dry and preserve them.
The sweet potato crop should not be
dug until il is mature. 1t is easy to
determine when the tubers are ripe. As
soon as they are dug, If one is broken
open moisture will show all over the
surface. When they are mature this
dries off almost Immediately. When
they are green the water stands on the
surface for considerable length OF
time. Do not dig them when they are
green. A completely matured potato
will keep much better than a partially
matured one. 1t is desirable to dig the
crop as soon as it is mature, but not
before. When The crop is ripe, the ma
turing process sets in, changing part
of the sugar into starch. restricting the
movement of sap and causing the cells
of the potato TO thicken and the SKIN
to increase In depth.
As a rule, sweet potatoes should be
dug in the morning of a bright day and
allowed to stay in the sun until even
ing The bright sunshine helps to dry
out a part of the surface water which
they contain even when they have
reached the proper degree of maturity
for digging 1t also kills thousands Of
the germs which cause them to rot.
Therefore. several great advantages are
obtained by digging early in the morn
ing
The potato should be dug and ham
died so as to avoid breaking the skin.
This point can not be emphasized too
strongly. When the skin is smooth
and unbroken the fungus which causes
the potato 10 rot can not gain entrance
into it; hence the spores which produce
rot do not develop. If the potato Is
bruised or broken IN any way they
quickly fird entrance thereto and soon
cause 1t 10 decay. Therefore, potatoes
should be handled very gently, and all
from the mass before any attempt is
made to store them. 1t is simply
waste of time to bank good and bad po-
tatoes together.
Thousands of persons will be forced
to bank their potatoes as this is the
only practical means of storing them al
their command. To do this it is gener-
ally best to select a well-drained loca-
ton and prepare a firm base for the
storage pit A circle six feet in dame
ter should be large enough for the av-
erage grower Bank the earth on it to
a depth of three or four inches. This
will raise the base of the hill above the
surrounding ground and insure good
drainage. Cover the base of the hill
with a good coating of clean dry pins
straw to a depth of two to four inches
and thoroughly pack down. Then be-
gin placing the potatoes on the straw
building up a cone-shaped pile until
| there are from ten to fifteen bushels in
| IL. Larger piles can be made but 1t is
not convenient to have too many pota>
toes stored in one pit on account OF
the difficulty of opening and closing al
frequent intervals during the winter.
When the pile has been made as indi-
Gated let it stand, but if there Is the
least danger of light frost, cover the
potatoes with pine straw and then with
some other heavy cover to prevent the
straw being blown away. If the pota-
toes are banked under a shelter remove
! the covering during the day and replace
at night Leave enough pine straw
over the potatoes to prevent the direct
rays of the sun from striking them. In
the course of five or six days the pota-
toes will have quit sweating. Then the
bank may be covered with pine straw
20 n deDtb of saw three inches. Corn
stalks can be used as an extra cover
and then about four inches of dirt
should be put all over the bank. 1t is
not necessary after the potatoes have
sweated out properly to leave an open
ing at the top. Some sort Of shelter
should be erected to shed water. Po-
\ tatoes handled in the manner indicat-
ed should keep quite satisfactorily.