View source for Storage clamp

{{Short description|Type of storage of agricultural products}}
[[Image:Zuckerrübenberg.jpg|thumb|a clamp of sugar beet, not covered]]
A  '''clamp''' is a compact heap, mound or pile of materials.<ref>"Cramp, n.3." ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009</ref> A '''storage clamp''' is used in the [[agriculture|agricultural industry]] for temporary storage of root crops such as [[potato]], [[turnip]], [[rutabaga]], [[mangelwurzel]], and [[sugar beet]].

A clamp is formed by excavating a shallow rectangular depression in a field to make a base for the clamp. Root crops are then stacked onto the base up to a height of about {{cvt|2|m}}. When the clamp is full, the earth scraped from the field to make the base is then used to cover the root crops to a depth of several inches. [[Straw]] or old [[hay]] may be used to protect the upper surface from rain erosion.

A well-made clamp will keep the [[Vegetable|vegetables]] cool and dry for many{{Vague|date=September 2024}} months. Most clamps are relatively long and narrow, allowing the crops to be progressively removed from one end without disturbing the remaining vegetables. The use of a clamp allows a farmer to feed vegetables into market over many months.

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Bunker silo}}
* [[Prehistoric storage pits]]
* {{annotated link|Food preservation}}
* {{annotated link|Root cellar}}
* {{annotated link|Brick clamp}}
* {{annotated link|Charcoal clamp}}
* {{annotated link|Clamp (manga artists)|CLAMP}}, an artist collective named after potato clamps<ref>[https://www.gwern.net/docs/eva/1997-ledoux-animeinterviewsthefirst5yearsofanimerica.pdf "Nanase Okawa" ''Animerica Anime & Manga Monthly'' 1997 © Viz Communications, Inc., 172]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Storage clamps}}
* [http://www.greenchronicle.com/gardening/storage_clamp.htm How to make a Storage Clamp - Green Chronicle]

{{agriculture-stub}}
[[Category:Food preservation]]
[[Category:Agricultural terminology]]