Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1875 — Keeping Sweet-Potatoes. [ARTICLE]

Keeping Sweet-Potatoes.

The cultivators of sweet-potatoes in the South do not find'it very difficult to keep the tubers through winter in very much the same manner as our Northern farmers do their Irish potatoes. But the climate ot the two regions of country is so widely different that a method ot preservation which answers admirably for one may be totally unsuited to the other. In addition to this, the maturity of the tubers has much to do with their keeping qualities, and this is just where the Northern-grown fall short of the proper conditions for making a good and safe beginning. The tubers are very likely to be half-ripe when frosts and cool weather hasten the digging, consequently they are more or less bruised and broken in handling, decay commencing soon after being taken front the field. But if the tubers are really sound and mature they may lie kept through winter with proper care. In the first place, they must be thoroughly dried before storing. This drying is of the utmost importance, for if packed away wet, or even with the skins moist, decay is certain, and in a very short time. If a dry, warm room is available,- then very little packing will be required. A layer of dry leaves in the bottom of the barrel and then a layer of potatoes, and so on until the barrel is full, will be sufficient. But if the potatoes are to be stored in a cellar, however dry and warm, it is seldom safe to risk the tubers in anything but kiln-dried sand. The potatoes should be carefully packed in barrels, then the dry sand poured on until all the interstices between are filled up. The barrels should also be elevated a few inches from the bottom of the cellar, in order to prevent any dampness from entering from that direction. Chaff or cut straw will, of course, answer as well as leaves for packing, but, aside from keeping dry and warm, the! main thing is to secure good, well-ripened and sound tubers to begin with. The largest and best-matured specimens should be. selected before packing, for feed, and it is always well to keep them separate from the main crop.— Rural New Yorker.