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Show GROWERS URGED TO SAVE POTATO CROP Reduce Wastage From Bad Storage Methods, Food Administration's Ad-ministration's Plea. ADVICE GIVEN BY EXPERT Washington. In an effort to diminish dimin-ish the wastage of potatoes which results re-sults every year from the use of improper im-proper storage methods, Lou D. Sweet, head of the potato division of the United Unit-ed States food administration, has issued is-sued a statement outlining the methods meth-ods that should be adopted by the small grower to prevent loss. His statement is as follows: "It is of great importance that all the potatoes raised this year should be stored under proper conditions. Even when every precaution is taken the wastage of potatoes during the winter is considerable; under bad conditions con-ditions of storage it is very great indeed. in-deed. "In order that the best methods may lie adopted by the small growers, those who have not had the experience in the storage of potatoes, should know the chief causes of the wastage. These causes are : "1. Sweating, heating and consequent conse-quent rot : often due to insufficient ventilation. "2. Rotting, due to potatoes getting wet' at the time of putting them in storage. "3. Injury from frost. "4. Decay, owing to disease in the tubers at the time of storage. "5. Sprouting of tubers in the spring. Losses May Be Reduced. "It is not possible to prevent altogether alto-gether losses from these causes, but by using the best methods of storage, It is possible to reduce them very materially. ma-terially. "This may be done by taking care to guard against losses from each of these causes : "Sweating and heating occur if the freshly dug potatoes are piled in too large piles, so that the air cannot circulate cir-culate between the tubers. The risk of loss from this cause is greatest in the fall, immediately after the tubers have been dug, and it is. therefore, important im-portant that potatoes when dug should not be put in unnecessarily large piles, nor kept in an ill-ventilated room. "If the potatoes at the digging time are aUowed to get wet and go , into storage in that condition, rotting Is sure to occur. Be careful to have your potatoes dry before storing. "Potatoes are easily damaged by frost. If they become frozen, there market value is destroyed. Therefore, take precaution to protect the tubers from frost before and after digging. Eliminate Diseased Tubers. "There are several diseases of the potato which destroy the tuber, and if diseased tubers are mixed with the sound ones, the disease spreads rapidly; rap-idly; therefore, it is necessary to sort the potatoes carefully, eliminating all of the disease, the cuts, culls, and dirt before placing them into permanent storage for the winter. All of the cuts, culls, misshapen and diseased tubers tu-bers should be fed to the poultry and live stock, but should be steamed or boiled before being fed, as in this way you increase the food value, and also destroy the germs of the disease, so that it will not get into the manure and thence into the land. "By proper ventilation of the cellar or storage room, and by holding the temperature as near 35 degrees F. as possible, you can keep the potatoes from - sprouting. "Seed" for nxt year's planting should be selected from hills that produce pro-duce all nice, true to type potatoes. These should be selected at the digging dig-ging time, and stored separately in crates or boxes, and by storing them in a well-lighted room where the temperature tem-perature can be held at from 34 to 40 degrees, with a little ventilation and this seed planted next spring, the grower will make a start toward improving im-proving the quality of Ids potatoes, instead in-stead of as in the past, -simply planting plant-ing the culls or runouts." |