Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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• r • 1 •" 'U ■ THE CUNTON CHRONICLE Cliatoa, S. C M Thursday, September It, IMS FARMS AND FOLKS By L. C. HAMILTON Clemson College Extension Information Specialist _ The sweet potato is one of the few vegetables South Carolinians can grow and store for long pe riods of time. For this reason it is a treasur ed product which can be tucked away against that proverbial rainy day when the food store may be short and income for “store-bought” food is scarce. This nutritious vegetable, which is a, root — botanically speaking, is at its best simply as nature widows it. While you may need to add sugar and spice to other foods—not so the sweet po tato. You simply plunk it into the oven and it comes out a gour met’s delight. The usual garnishments—with possible exception of a small slice of butter—are not needed. Take off the jacket, which by this time is parched, and you’ll find the salmon-colored flesh beneath, brimming with vitamins and minerals. While the sweet potato may be stored for months, it is not so tough as to be considered a hard ware item. Many gardeners and commercial growers lose a good portion of their crop by improper handling. I have just talked with Hugh A Bowers, Clemson extension truck crops specialist, Barnwell, who is a sort of Dr. Spock on the grow ing and care of sweetfcpotatoes. He had a word of advice to gard eners who’ll be digging their crops soon: “Dig sweet potatoes when the most high quality potatoes are OK! BLOW THE WHISTLE! - ’64 CHEVROLET , TRUCKS ARE READY TO GO TO WORK I v present. A gardener might dig a few representative hills to deter mine the best digging time. “If the sun is too hot, allow the newly-dug potatoes to dry off before proceeding further. “Curing sweet potatoes is ad vised if you have storage in mind. Curing is simply keeping the roots under a temperature of around 85 degrees for a pe riod of 7-8 days;” Bowers point ed out. Ventilation should be provided during the curing process. At the same time, the humidity should be maintained at about 85 to 90 per cent relatives humidity. “The best storage tempera ture,” Bowers continued, “is about 55 degrees. At lower tem peratures there is danger of cold injury. And at higher tempera tures sprouting will often occur.” Home gardeners often don’t have ideal facilities for curing, but the closer they can approxi mate the conditions, given, the more successful they’re likely to be. One of the oldest mehods of food preservation—still practiced in South Carolina—is drying. Where thep ractice first orig inated we can’t state with cer tainty. The Encyclopedia Britan- nica says, “Early man first de pended upon nature for his dehy drated foods and later copied the method by using the sun and heat from fire to preserve his own stores.” -Many of us, as youngsters^ would never have been introduc ed to apple turnovers, one of our favorite fried pies, were it not for a supply of dried apples put up in late summer. The practice is still widespread especially with homeowners lucky enough to own an apple tree. W. E. Holly, who lives about 10^ & v rf: -K\ * tm 1 Sp/ , V- _ “ -A* “ three miles north of Easley, was sunning about three pecks of dried applies this week. I asked him how it was done. “The sliced apples were sun- dried for about two days on a sheet of aluminum. After that, they seemed to be dry enough to put into cotton bags (for easier handling. “Now I’m placing the bags of apples in the sun, turning them a few times each day. This will continue for about a week—only on sunny days, of course. Then I’ll take them in the house for good." I asked Mr. Holly how he maintained the bright color of the dried fruit. J ‘I think the maturity of the ap ples have something to do with that,” he tlod me. At Clemson, I asked Professor L. O. Van Blaricon, food tech nologist with the Horticulture De partment, how to keep the bright color of fruit during drying. “Soak the fruit in a solution containing one teaspoon sodium bisulfite per gallon of water for about five minutes before drying. “Sodium bisulfite is a powerful fungicide and bacteriacide which should aid keeping quality also,” he said. Food keeps better following de hydration because greatly reduc ed water content make it difficult for yeasts and molds to grow. “After drying, fruit may be stored in glass jars. The con tainers don’t have to be hermet ically sealed as in the case with other forms of food preserva tion,” Mr. Van Blaricon said. Fountain Inn Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Miller spent Sunday in Greenwood with Mrs. Miller’s sister, Mrs. Howard Penn, and family. They were accompanied by Mrs. M. D. Smith who will visit the Penns for several days. Sunday afternoon Dr. Ruth Stokes visited her sister, Mrs. g^ah S. Hunter, in Laurens. During the week-end Mrs. Sa rah D. Martin of Columbia vis ited Mrs. Roily Bannister. Mr. and Mrs. Olin Stewart and family spent Sunday in Spartanburg with Mrs. Stew art’s sister, Mrs. Frank Oak ley, and family. Dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh McCarter and fam ily in Fountain Inn Sunday were Mrs. McCarter’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Miller. Visiting Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Finley recently were Dr. and Mrs. Gy W. Cunningham of Laurens, Mrs. Joe O’Dell, Mrs. Dora Cochran, Miss Lucille Nedes, Mrs. Buchanan and Mrs. Leary of Greenville. This week Mrs. Alice Mc- Kittrick Mansfield of Atlanta, Ga., is with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. McKittrick. Her mother is doing nicely after a several days stay in Self Me morial hospital, Greenwood. After attending the Workman reunion Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bryan and family of New- Torn Bryson and family of Newberry, visited his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Bryson. His mother is much better after a week’s illness. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Cook of Winston-Salem, N. C., visited Mrs. Cook’s'father, S. B. Good man, Sunday. Mountville News MRS. MAUDE BRYSON Correspondent Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Finley and family visited friends in OwBitU Let the word of God dwell la yon richly. —(CoL 8:18). How wonderful it is to know that the word of God dwells within us; that we are guided, if we but listen, to speak only words of love, un derstanding and kindness. ig- smart money buy NEW ROYAL SI(,NH/I PORTABLE EASY TERMS • Full-size keyboard • Rugged, all-metal body • Quick-set margins • 2-color ribbon • Deluxe carrying case included • Full manufacturer's . warranty R8Y£|, CHRONICLE STATIONERY STORE " £ f. 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