New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-01-02
Above a boxear properly equipped with false walls and toy to protect p-
tatoes from frost. Below, a al i'm properly loaded, and equipped with
false walls so constructed as to inter- fer with air circulation.

prepared by the United States Depart
ment OF Agriculture.D
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
al effective ally. Potatoes, sweet and
white. are shipped to market in large
quantities throughout the cold season
nnd 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 a
better position to demand a square
deal II he understands how to protect
winter consignments properly. IL 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 ccord with recommended
lions of the bureau of markets, and
apply to winter shipments Of sweet
potatoes destined for northern points,
as well as to white potatoes.
Importance of Circulation.
A stove will warm enough air to pro-
tect n car of potatoes from freezing
even in severe weather, providing the
car lining is built and kept in such a
condition that the warm air can get
.l,,.,, a., A.. a,,r anl .{I., urbnrn 10
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 ii 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 loor is laid on sup
ports running lengthwise. thereby ere
ating air channels 4 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
to O inches from the car ends. Likewise,
false walls are built n few inches from
the sides and a false door is erected
Mt one side for n stovepipe. Bulk
heads are put across the car nj either
side Of the door TO form n well for the
stove. These walls. as well as the ZEN
ter bulkheads, rise well 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 Il rises as II is heated and cir
culates towards the end of the car,
between the load and the ceiling.
Material Needed for Lining.
A rough estimate OF the lumber and
paper required to line an s by Sh by
SO foot car. with doors 8 fee wide. is
follows:
10 pieces 2 by 4 inches by Il feet long
3 pieces 2 by s inches by is feet long.
$50 square feet of l-inch lumber. l6
feet long.
2.ZO square feet OF building paper.
The 13 "two-by-fours" should be
In half. making &c pieces I feet
long. Six inches should be sawed OF
the length Of each of the eight . by 6
inch pieces. Enough Of the 16-foot
boards should be sawed into S-foot
l.Y.tl9 - .,alL. m total rRAlth 90 - D.
feet Of S-foot boards, and other of
these boards sawed into G-foot lengths
to make a total width of 4 feet. This
will leave a few 4-foot lengths. One
should be sawed of the remaining
6-foot boards. leaving them ~ feet
long. This lumber is all that is re-
luired by an experienced loader to
completely equip a car with false walls
bulkhcads. Detailed directions
EASILY understood. are contained Ia
Markets Document Il. issued by :he
States department OF arricul-
Proper Placing Of Load.
The shipper of POTATOES must re-
member that they should b. loaded ]
lose enough TO the ceiling 20 block
circulation. There must be n large.
1nobstructed opening for the warm
iir to pass down TO the floor after Il
mas spread the length II the ceiling
rom the heater. The circulation 10
,low and labored. and to limit IT by
,iling the sacks 50 they extend beyond
he false walls causes serious inter
In placing the sacks ON the
lOor next TO the walls. care
should be taken to set them a few !
inches from these partitions. since {
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