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SWEET POTATOES
In storing sweet potatoes the important points
to be kept in mind are that the potatoes must be well matured before they
are dug; they must be handled with extreme care; they must be allowed to dry
or cure thoroughly before storage, and they must be kept at an even
temperature. A test for maturity is to cut or break a sweet potato and
expose it to the air for a few minutes. If the surface of the cut or break
dries the potato may be considered mature, but if moisture remains on the
surface it is not properly ripe. In sections where frosts come early digging
should take place about the time the first frost is expected, without regard
to maturity. Care in handling is necessary to prevent bruising and
subsequent decay. Curing is done by keeping them at an even temperature of
80 to 85 degrees F. for a week or ten days after harvesting, to dry off the
moisture. The room in which this is done must be ventilated in order that
the moisture-laden air may escape.
For storing sweet potatoes on a large scale a specially
constructed house is desirable. For home storage the roots may be kept near
the furnace in the cellar or near the furnace chimney in a vacant upstairs
room or in the attic. The room should be kept fairly warm. After curing the
temperature should be maintained around 55 degrees F.
Care should be taken not to store sweet potatoes which
are infested with the sweet potato weevil or root-weevil, one of the most
serious pests of the Gulf region. This pest practically confines itself to
destruction of the tubers after harvesting.
[content
edited] All badly affected roots
should be burned.. |
APPLES
Apple storage is simple and is desirable not
only for those who grow their own apples but also for those who depend on
the market for their supply. The one essential is that the fruit be kept in
a cool, dry place and so stored as to be in no danger of absorbing odors
from vegetables stored nearby.
Families raising no apples, but having a good storage
place, meeting the requirements as to temperature, will find it advantageous
to buy a winter's supply in the fall, when prices are low. The cost of
purchases thus made will be considerably less than if apples are bought as
needed during the winter.
To store, sort apples carefully, removing and using at
once all fruit which is bruised or shows signs of decay. The best results
are secured by wrapping each apple in half a sheet of newspaper and storing
in barrels, boxes, crates or bins. The wrapping prevents the apples from
touching each other and thus prevents the spread of decay which may start.
It also protects the apples from odors if vegetables are stored nearby.
Apples absorb odors freely from potatoes, onions, turnips and other
vegetables and should never be stored, unwrapped, in the same room with
vegetables of any kind. In addition to wrapping the individual apples it is
desirable to line the barrel or other container with a half inch thickness
of newspapers, on the bottom and sides, and then cover the top with
newspapers and either nail a cover on or tie the papers securely with
strings. This will deep odors out. The lining and covering give full
protection and make it possible to store apples in the general cellar
storage room.
Remember that the cellar or other place in which they
are stored must be cool. A temperature of 32 degrees F. is ideal, and the
temperature should not be allowed to go above 40 degrees if it can be held
this low.
Apples may be stored unwrapped in barrels, boxes,
crates or bins if proper attention is paid to sorting, to providing a cool
place for storage and to occasional sorting during the winter, for the
removal of possible decayed fruit. If any of the fruit in any container is
found to have begun to decay all the apples in all the containers should be
sorted at once and decaying fruit removed. Apples stored unwrapped must not
be kept in the room with vegetables. |
