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Show Keeping Sweet Potatoes Every farmer that raises sweet potatoes po-tatoes realizes how difficult it Is to koop thorn for a fow months In winter. Tho porcontago of loss from rotting is bo groat that tho grower generally PotB rid of them as fast as posslblo. Yot in mnny Instances early sales aro wado at a disadvantage, and It becomes be-comes advisable to hold tho crop for better prices. Most farmers also desire de-sire to retain enough sweot potatoes lu their collars to last tho family through the winter. Tho problem of keeping thorn la therefore ono of considerable con-siderable moment to tho grower as woll as to tho farmer that wishes to buy his sweot potatoes by tho barrel rather than by tho peck. It may bo sa'd that n3 yet no general method of keeping hns boon discovered that gives entire snti?factIon. Somo of the best recommended methods havo nt times utterly failed to kcop tho tubers for oven ton weeks without an enormous enor-mous percentage of loss In rotten ones. Cold storage docs not seem to bo suited to this farm product; ns tho air ot cold storago houses Is altogethor too low in tcmpoturo Mon that havo had long oxporlGnce iu keeping Bweot potatoes declare that tho temperaturo must not bo loss than 50 degrees nor raoro than 60 degrees und that tills temperaturo must be kept about uniform. Tho uniformity is necessary to keep tho tubor and tho ttlr at the samo temperaturo. If the tuber becomes noldor than tho surrounding sur-rounding air, moisture will bo deposited depos-ited on tho outsldo, and this induces rot. This condition of difference in temperaturo may be brought about by a sudden rise in tho temperaturo of tho room in which tho potatoos aro kopt. This explains why sweet potatoes pota-toes packed In dry saud will somotlmes somo-tlmes kcop exceptionally well, tho sand proventlng a circulation of nlr nnd therefore alnonroventlng any sudden sud-den change of temperaturo. Moisture and temperature are tho two chief factors fac-tors in the keeping of sweet potatoos. While white potatoes may bo kept at the freezing point or a Uttlo below, sweet potatoes must bo kopt comparatively compara-tively warm and entirely dry. To get this latter condition It has becomo a quite common practice with thoso that havo largo quantities of sweet potatoes pota-toes to kcop over winter to havo them partly klJu-driod beforo they aro packed nway. TieKfhia tho potatoes are put In a roomnrhoro the temperature tempera-ture is kept at Urn 100 to 130 do-greos do-greos for eight ciys, at tho end of which tlmo thoy i b stored in a place whero thoy will 1 1 thoroughly dry at all times nnd In -hlch tho temperature tempera-ture nevor goes I tfow C5 dogrees nor higher than CO. "This matter 1b ono of tho hardest tlbgo to handle, and Is practically pos: bio only on a commercial com-mercial scalo. Attempts havo leon mado to treat tho tubers beforo itorlng and without flrst drying thorn mt. Tho Arkansas station tried thii tea dlfforont ways unsuccessfully, "lo percentage of sound tubers aftot tn weeks from digging dig-ging woro as fo l-ws: Not treated, 61; packed in dijsand, B4; packed in wood ashos, I; packed In road dust, 38; packed b air-slacked limo, E8; rollod In floi ers of sulphur, 64; rolled in powdore I lulphnto of copper, 68; rollod in alr-;liked limo, CO; Immersed Im-mersed 30 mlnut i in Bordeaux mixture mix-ture 44; Immerse 130 minutes in copper cop-per sulphate sob Hon, 08; immersed 30 mlntues in foQulin, (1 pint to 30 gallons water), C(; Immersed 30 minutes min-utes In formalin ( 1 pint to 40 gallons), 52; Immersed 30 minutes In formalin (1 pint to 50 gal ens water), 58; Immersed Im-mersed 30 mlnuj.i in ammonia and sulphnto of coppo ,12. It will thus bo seen that nono c ( tho mothods gavo ovon fair results, the best showing 28 por cent ot rottc i tubers at tho end of ten weeks. From tho prln:lples elucidated, it Is evident that it U a nilstako to put sweet potatoes into our ordinary collars, col-lars, which aro altogethor too damp for such storage Whero tho collar 1b woll cemented and a furnaco is used for heating tho duelling, tho tubers may bo stored there. Otherwlso it would bo bettor tostoro them In dry sand, saw-dust or claff, In somo warm, dry upper room. But in all cases thoy should bo well drlel out beforo being thus stored. I |