; 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.
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