The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1920-01-08

prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture)
In the big battle which he wages
every winter to destroy a portion of
mankind's food stores, Jack Frost
finds the careless shipper of potatoes
an effective ally. Potatoes, sweet and
white. are shipped to market in large
quantities throughout the cold season
and demand thorough protection,
since a touch of frost renders them
practically worthless. While the farm
er himself is not directly responsible
for faulty shipment If he sells to a
dealer who does the loading, he is in
better position to demand a square
deal if he understands how to protect
winter cOnsignments properly. If the
crop is being marketed on a commits
sion basis the grower is sure to suffer
the brunt of the losses when the frost
gets in effective work.
The directions for preparing a box
car for potato shipments given here
with. are in accord with recommenda-
lions of the bureau of markets, and
apply to winter shipments of sweet
potatoes destined for northern points,
Importance of Circulation.
A stove Will warm enough air to pro-
tect q car of potatoes from freezing
even in severe weather, providing the
car lining is built and kept in such
condition that the warm air can get
down to the floor and sides where it
is needed. To accomplish this a COM
plete air passage must be formed en-
tirely around the load. When pota-
toes are loaded in bulk it is necessary
to construct what are in effect two
bins, one on either side of the central
area where the stove is placed, if the
shipment is likely to pass through Sc
we're weather. In many cases, of
course, it is entirely safe to ship with
out artificial heat in the car.
Before constructing the bins, the
walls and ceiling of the car itself must
be covered with building paper. Fol-
lowing this a false floor is laid on sup
ports running lengthwise, thereby Gre
ating air channels to 6 inches deep,
extending beneath the false floor from
the center of the car to either end
where they connect with vertical air
passages formed by false walls built 4
false walls are built few inches from
the sides and a false door is erected
at one side for 8 stOvepipe. Bulk
heads are put across the car at either
side Of the door to form well for the
| stove. These walls, as we'll as the CEN
| ter bulkheads, rise we'll toward the
ceiling. The bins are lined with pa
per, the same as the car walls. The
false floor supports permit the cool air
to settle below the false floor and to
move toward the base of the stove
where it rises as it is heated and cir
culates towards the end of the car,
between the load and the ceiling.
Material Needed for Lining.
rough estimate of the lumber and
paper required to line an by 81 by
| B6 foot car, with doors feet wide, is
as follows:
pieces by inches by 16 feet long
1.S0O square feet of 1-inch lumber, Is
| feet long.
$3.50 square feet of building paper.
The Ii "two-by-fours" should be
sawed in half, making 26 pieces feet
long. Six inches should be sawed of
the length Of each of the eight 2 by
inch pieces. Enough of the 16-foOt
boards should be sawed into S-foot
lengths to make a total width of 81
feet Of S-foot boards, and other of
these boards sawed into 6-foot lengths
! to make a total width Of 4 feet. This
will leave a few 4-foot lengths. One
| foot should be sawed off the remaininE
! 16-foot boards, leaving them Is feet
long. This lumber is all that is re-
/ quired by an experienced loader to
completely equip car with false walls
and bulkheads Detailed directions,
easily understood, are contained in
Markets Document II, issued by the
| United States department of agricu1-
! ture
Proper Placing of Load.
The shipper of potatoes must re-
member that they should not be loaded
| close enough TO the ceiling to block
| circulation. There must be a large,
unobstructed opening for the warm
air to pass down to the floor after it
has spread the length of the ceiling
| from the heater. The circulation is
slow and Iabored. and to limit it by
piling the sacks so they extend beyond
the false walls causes serious inter
ference. In placing the sacks on the
false floor next to the walls, care
should be taken to set them a few
inches from these partitions, since
/