Upon this subject I am able to speak with the freedom habitually enjoyed
by some voluminous agricultural writers--my imagination will not be
hampered by my knowledge.
In debatable climates, like Ohio, Illinois, Kansas and southward, it is
conceded that a great point would be gained by the discovery of some
plan--not too expensive--that would make it safe to put away potatoes in
the summer, as soon as ripe, so that they would go through the winter
without sprouting and preserve their eating qualities till potatoes come
again. As it is, digging must be deferred till late, for fear of rot;
the fields of early varieties grow up with weeds after they are "laid
by." In the spring a long interregnum is left between old potatoes fit
to eat and the new crop, and the seed stock of the country loses much of
its vigor through sprouting in cellars and pits. Most farmers have had
occasion to notice the difference between the yield from crisp,
unsprouted seed potatoes and that from the wilted, sprouted tubers so
often used. Some years ago Professor Beal made a test of this
difference. I speak from recollection, but think I am right in saying
that, according to the published account which I saw, he found one
sprouting of seed potatoes lowered the yield 10 per cent.; each
additional sprouting still further reduced the crop, till finally there
was no yield at all. Even a 10 per cent. shrinkage in all that portion
of the annual potato crop grown from sprouted seed would result in an
aggregate loss of millions of bushels. The question how to store
potatoes and not have them sprout I have seen answered in the papers by
recommending a "cold" cellar, of about 40 degrees temperature. If there
are cellars that are cold in warm weather, without the use of some
artificial process, I have not seen them. The temperature of well water
is about 45 degrees only, and anybody knows how much colder a well is
than a cellar. But the greatest difficulty comes in from the fact that
potatoes are such a prolific source of heat in themselves.
If a 40 degree cellar could be found and be filled with potatoes, the
temperature would at once begin to rise, and the later in the season,
the faster it would go up. I repeat that a cellar filled with potatoes
will have a much higher temperature than the same cellar would have if
empty. This I have learned as Nimbus learned tobacco growing--"by
'sposure." I hope I won't be asked "why." I don't know. The reason is
unimportant. The remedy is the thing. The only help for it that I know
of is to give the cellar plenty of ventilation, put the potatoes in as
clean as possible, and then shovel them over every month or two. This
will keep the sprouting tendency in check very largely; but it won't
make it practicable to begin storing potatoes in July or cause them to
keep in good flavor till June.
Several years ago I placed some barrels of early Ohio potatoes in the
Kansas City cold storage warehouses from March till July. They were kept
in a temperature of 38 degrees, and came out crisp and very little
sprouted. The plan of this structure was very simple: a three-story
brick building so lined with matched lumber and tarred paper as to make
three air-spaces around the wall. In the top story was a great bulk of
ice, which was freely accessible to the air that, when cooled, passed
through ducts to the different "cool rooms." The results were
satisfactory, but the system seemed too expensive for potatoes. I have
wondered whether it was necessary for potatoes to be kept as cold as 38
degrees. Would not a current of air passing through pipes showered with
well water keep them cold enough? Wine vaults, I believe, are sometimes
cooled by air currents forced through a cold water spray. If the air
blast of well water temperature would be sufficient, the apparatus for
producing it would be comparatively inexpensive--or at least much
cheaper than those plans of cold storage where ice is stored in quantity
over the cool room. However, any process that could be devised would
probably be unprofitable to the small cropper, and the larger the
business done, the less the cost per bushel. If it should be found that
individual operators could not reach such an improvement on a profitable
scale, why could not several of them pool their issues sufficiently to
build, jointly, a potato elevator? There are at least 50,000 bushels of
potatoes held in store by farmers within three miles of where I live. It
seems to me there would be many advantages and economies in having that
large stock under one roof, one insurance, one management; on a side
track where they could be loaded in any weather or state of the roads,
besides the great item that the temperature could be controlled, by
artificial means, in one large building much cheaper than in several
small ones.
EDWIN TAYLOR.
Edwardsville, Kans.
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[KNOWLEDGE.]