Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1919-11-05
POTATOES PROPERLY
STORED FOR WINTER
approximately 0ne-Third of Crop
Is Marketed in Fall.
Reservs Supply Must Be Protected
From Extremes Of Heat and Cold
Provide Sufficient VentiIa.
ton and Avoid Moisture.
prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture.l

SIrepareQ Dy the united States depart
ment Of Agriculture)
Potatoes properly stored should not
sustain a loss throughout the winter
season Of more than 5 per cent, and
under exceptionally good conditions not
more than 8 or per cent. The max
imum return from the crop after it Is
produced depends on the care with
which the potatoes are harvested,
stored, graded, sacked, and the ability
of the grower to sell at the most adj
vantageous time. Approximately one
third of the main potato crop is mar.
keted at harvest time, and the re-
mainder is stored as reserve supply
for winter and spring. 1t is physically
impossible, as well as economically un-
desirable, to attempt to market the en-.
tire crop in the autumn, and the only
way in which potatoes can be handled
successfully, so as to insure uniform
supply, is to provide sufficient storage
on the farm or at the shipping station
for from IS to Is per cent Of the crop.
Various types of storage places are
now in use, ranging from pits or
icheaply constructed dug-outs to large,
substantially built storage houses.
Plans for the construction Of storage
houses are given in the departments
Farmers Bulletin S47.
For successful storage, the tubers
must be protected from extremes Of
cold and heat; temperature of from
,35 to 40 degrees F. is considered sat
!isfactory. Sufficient ventilation must
sbe provided to remove foul air and
excessive moisture. The storage house
must be so constructed as to make 1t
possible to exclude the light. as the
table quality Of potatoes quickly de.
tteriorates in the light.
The tubers should be dry and reason
ably free from dirt when put into
storage, an excess Of moisture or soil
Increases the amount of heat In newly
stored potatoes. The soil tends to fill
up the spaces between the tubers, thus
cutting off air circulation, and helping
to retain heat that would otherwise
escape. All diseased, badly cut, or
bruised tubers should be removed from
the crop before putting 1t into storage.
7, 1t is a common practice for CONNER
;cial growers and shippers to store po-
'tatoes in bins to depth Of 10 to Is
feet. This is almost certain to entail
much heavier shrinkage loss than when
stored to depth Of not more than g
feet. The heavier shrinkage is the
result Of the greater amount of heat
generated by large pile Of potatoes,
which results In a higher amount of
moisture loss as we'll as heavier loss
from decay, as heat and moisture both
help to develop organisms causing
tuber rots. Frequently the losses sus-
tanned when the potatoes are stored
under these conditions reach 25 per
cent, and where rigid care has not been
exercised to remove all diseased tubers
before storing the crop, the loss is even
greater. 1t is advisable, therefore, to
pile the potatoes not greater than or
6 feet deep, and the floor dimensions of
the bin should not be greater than 12X
12 feet unless provided with series Of
ventilating shafts or division walls for
the escape of moisture and heat.