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Show POTATO CELLARS AHE NECESSARY II 1010 Reclamation Service Engineer Engi-neer Describes Plans to Care for Tuber Crops. WASHINGTON. Nov. 23. Since South, ern Idaho has gone to the front as a potato po-tato country, and as potato growing has been confined to the irrigated districts, the problem of storage has had to be met. I-ast '-ir southern Idaho farmers sustained heavy losses because of tho lack of storage and their inability to secure se-cure transportation when needed. Profiting Pro-fiting bv that experience the farmers t)f the Minidoka Project got together this year and built Morago oi.-llars to t:tk) care of their surplus crop. Just whta was done on that project is desrrihed in the lteelamaliun Kecord for November tw Hugh I,. Crawford, assistant ennincor. tho V. S, reclamation service. In ills article Mr Crawford said: "The large crop of potatoes raised on the protect tlio past season created a great demand for new and Increased are facilities on the project. Tho ser was authorized tariy in the fall to ri operate with the farmers in the constmcA tlon of cellars. Various plans were considered con-sidered and a plan submitted by tho Washington offiee' was found to be het suited to the purpose. This plan was submitted to the farmers of the several localities with the offer on the part of tho mited States reclamation service to furnish fur-nish one-half of the cost and the farmeis interested the other half. The fanners at Starrs Ferry derided finally to bulll a cellar wholly on their own account. In this tliev were assisted by the re damn ton service, to the extent of being furnished fur-nished a part of the material at cost. Knirlnecrlng assistance was also furnlsiipil them and a fnreman secured to take charge if the work for them. "At Rupert the farmers subscribed very readily to the plan, individual sharps averaging "about ?ln. Sufficient funds were secured to build two cellars, eaeti 12S feet by thirty-two feet Inside measure. mea-sure. Tlipse were constructed on ground belonging to the reclamation service, ne:ir the present office of the inidoka Irrigation Irri-gation district and formerly used as a Kovernment lumber yard. This was about one block from a loading switch on thi railroad, but it was thought possible to hulld a spur switch to the cellars later. Tho combined capacities of the two cellars cel-lars is 21.760 bushels fnr a depth of seven feet In the bins. This is equivalent to ! about 10.XSO sacks. Charges for storap are at present based on the sack and are i five cents perack for the first month and three centf additional for each extra month storage. It may he more desirable later to establish a chargo based on the bin na a unit. "The walls of the cellars nt Rupert ar built of concrete, - reinforced with step! at corners and over doorways. The roof of cellar No. 1 consists of wire netting laid on rafters and covered with a compacted com-pacted layer of straw and potato tops a. little over ' a foot in thickness. ThH again was covered with about one foot of earth. Cellar No. 'I was roofed with onn inch lumber covered with tar paper and one wall was also built of the same material. mate-rial. This was required by the need for speedv construction on account of fnt danger to unstored crops and the furth fact" that straw was scarce and very h,ard to obtain. The first cellar was filled . before the roof was completed, and a part of the bins are still to go in when potatoes are taken out. "At Acequia a cellar was built with an inside area of eighty feet by thirty-two feet, and a capacity of 6S0u bushels or 3-iOO sacks. It was thought that this cellar might be lengthened so a tempo-rary tempo-rary wooden end was built to allow of J the addition at a later date." An acjr, dent occurred in the building of -vr cellar. The concrete walls had been com- , pleted and the in t erior framing and .: rafters were up white backfilling was in , progress along the walls. In the rush of ; the work insufficient bracing was use-!, and the north wall, eighty feet long, fell into the ceilar, having broken off at the footing under the backfill load. No injuries to workmen resulted. The debris de-bris was removed and a wall built in the break consisting of wire netting on thro by six-Inch studs backed with straw and earth fill. This cellar also stood on government gov-ernment ground across the street from tho loading track of the railroad. Much of the amount subscribed by the farmer was to be paid in labor. It was found, however, that this was hard to collect as each farmer was sure to be busy digging dig-ging potatoes or making hay when his services were needed. This made tli-i work slow and expensive, particularly at Acequia. "The total cost of the Acequia cWlar complete after wiring for electric lights was $340-1. CS. Rupert cellar No. 1 cost to date $o62.'i.0C. Bins are Still to go In a part of this and the estimated cost to complete is about $415, making a total cost of J423S.06. Rupert cellar No. " cost to date $3456.11. This cellar still hw some bins to be completed and this estimated esti-mated cost to complete will be $"75, making mak-ing a total cost of 537S1.11. The cost of a party wall is all charged to Rupert cellar No. 1, which runs up the coat on it In proportion to No. 2. "The cellars at both Rupert and Acedia are under the supervision of the reclamation reclama-tion service employee who cares for them, and attends to the storing and taking out of potatoes." |