TO KEEP A QUANTITY OF POTATOES.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 143, 12 June 1903, Page 2

TO KEEP A QUANTITY OF POTATOES.

1. The keaping of potatoes for a considerable period is not at all a difficult matter, the chief points being to protect them from light, frost, and excessive dampness, and sweating, as it is termed, which is usually the result of too much moisture causing the tubers to become heated, and consequently to go rotten. A good, dry shed is the best place to keep them in, and a board or earth floor is equally good. The outer* walls should be packed on the inside to a height of four feet withhold hay, straw, or , bracken, the. packing being l^ft. in thickness. The potatoes should be turned out on the floor not more than Bft. in depth, care being taken that they are perfectly dry. Room should be left on one side to allow of their being sorted over whiGh should be done for the first time about three weeks after they are stored, and at intervals of about six weeks afterwards. After the potatoes are stored they should be covered with old garden-mats or a thin layer of straw to exclude tbe light. On the approach of frosty weather, however, the covering must be increased to-a depth of a foot or more, and b e pressed down tightly, t. Any quantity of potatoes intended to be kept for late us, say, next summer, may be kept in excellent condition by storing them in the following, manner. " First, see that the potatoes are quite sound, and free from disease. The best place for storing them is in the shadiest part of the field, or garden, running in a north and south direction, level and dry. Potatoes keep best in small quantities, for when in large heaps they ferment. Therefore, ridge-shape is the best way to store them. Start at one end of the place chosen, four feet at the base, and as high as they can be conveniently piled up. Now, with a spade, commence "about one foot from the potatoes to take out a trench, and with the soil removed cover the potatoes to a dopth of nine inches. In addition, thatch the ridges with straw, fern, or any material calculated to keep out frost and wet. See that the trench drains itself. Some lay straw next the tubers, but ae it decays from contact with the soil,, it injuriously affects their flavour. If necessary, to withdraw'any of the potatoes daring frosty weather, do so from the south end. Do not expose too long and carefully mend the breach. . . mmmmmmwsmmmmwm '