Arizona republican., 1919-02-12
(Clrence Roberts in Oklahoma Farm
 -Stockman)

(Clarence Roberts in Oklahoma Farm
 erStockman)
 It was my great pleasure to visit the first of this month what is probably the biggest sweet potato house in Okla homa.
 This house is located at Durant. It is sort of a community house in way. Farmers can keep their potatoes in it all winter for 25 cents bushel. It was built under the direction of J. E. Wells, who has been for most of his life a sweet potato grower in Oklahoma and Texas The house is built after a pat ent owned by Wells brother at Long view, Texas, who is one of the largest sweetpotato growers and shippers in the United States.
 It holds o,000 bushels. Running the length of the house are two railways. On each side are the bins, holding 240 bushels each. The bins are made of narrow slats some eight feet square and ten feet high.
 Opening into the bottom of each bin is a pipe leading to a large fan in a seperate room. This fan is run by 3O- horsepower motor. In third room ad- joining the fan room are three stoves set in an opening in the wall. At cur ing time in the fall these stoves arc fired up. The fan draws the warm air through the openings in which the stoves set. The temperature can be controlled b yregulating the amount of fire in the stoves, or by opening a door in the fan room that will let In the cooler outside air. Wells told me that he can keep the temperature in control always by this method. A thermometer hangs by the fan. giving the exact temperature of the air going into the bins.
 Just as soon as the potatoes are put | into the bin at digging time. the cui % | ing-out starts. Air at a temperature of | 76 degrees is blown into the bottom of ] the bin. A temperature much higher ! than this. Wells explains. will cause | the potatoes to sprout badly. A lower 1 temperature will delay the curing pro- cess. When the potatoes are thor oughly cured out, the temperature is | kept between 40 and 50 degrees. Along with the temparture it is planned to | give the potatoes as much fresh air as possible. If the weather stays very cold this can be done by firing the stoves and blowing air of the right tempera | llIe l1tO lIt DlIS.
 This method has been used by Wells | brother in Texas for a number ot years and has been entirely successful Wells, to say the least, is a man much interested in sweet potatoes. He likes to grow them, store them, sell them and eat them. He believes there is a big future for the sweet potato growers in Oklahoma. Being inter- ested as he is and having had lot of experience, he told me some things about growing sweet potatoes that ought both interest small and large 1 growers.
 Having picked out your potato land which ought to be a sandy or sandy loan soil, he says list the land in tht early spring. Follow the lister with 2 Georgia stock with shovel on it tearing up the soil as deep as a gooc horse can pull the shovel. Then relis the land, throwing the dirt back on tn, subsoiled furrow. Take heavy drae of some kind, as railroad tie, and drae the ridges down almost level. Planting should be done immediately following this dragging.
 The subsoiled furrow under the DO tato ridges gives the roots chance tt penetrate deeper into the soil. Tn, potato grows a better shope wher,