The Siftings Herald

How To Care For Sweet Potatoes
It's only a few weeks now until the state's farmers will begin digging sweet potatoes again and it's none too early to get the storage house in shape to receive the potatoes when they are dug, states J. S. Knox, University of Arkansas College of Agriculture, Extension Service.

First, thoroughly clean the house, including floors, walls, bins, crates, and then spray thoroughly with formaldehyde solution—one quart 40 per cent formaldehyde to 30 gallons of water. It is advisable to place some of the solution in a wooden tub and dip the crates in order to get them thoroughly disinfected.

Last year farmers lost heavily on their sweet potatoes because of bruises made during the process of digging and hauling to the storage house. The habit of careless handling is costing Arkansas farmers thousands of dollars annually. The man who insists on picking up his potatoes and throwing them to a heap five or ten feet away instead of taking along a basket and laying the potatoes in gently will have a lot of bruised potatoes that will likely rot in storage or be unfit to market as No. 1 potatoes.

Then there's the fellow who insists on leaving his sweet potatoes exposed to the sun for a day or two to dry before he places them in storage. If the sun isn't very hot no special damage may be done in this way, but if the day is hot the potatoes will scald and then rot or dry up in spite of all one can do.

Use care in digging, handling, and storing sweet potatoes and one will have less storage troubles, fewer potatoes to cull when ready for market and will receive a better price on the market.