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The Country Gcntlcmaiis MagarAnc 



on the surface should be filled in and l)eaten in 

 like manner. Little fartherattention is required, 

 except where the potatoes are not likely to be 

 needed till between the end of the year and 

 the coming into use of the next crop, in 

 which case it is better to cover the whole pit 

 over with 12 to 18 inches of straw, dried ferns, 

 or other non-conducting substances, of which 

 dry sawdust and tree leaves are often easily 

 attainable ; but when employed, these should 

 be thatched over with 3 or 4 inches of well- 

 drawn straw, to prevent their dispersion by 

 winds,and tokeepoutrain. Whetherstored on 

 the surface or in shallow excavations, it is most 

 essential that the surrounding open trenches, 

 from which the earth used in covering has 

 been taken, be at least 6 inches lower than 

 the potatoes, and formed so as to prevent 

 the retention in them of any rain water. The 

 storage of potatoes in cellars, as well as in 

 other places, should be done as far as pos- 

 sible in accordance with the foregoing remarks 

 ■ — viz., by keeping them in total darkness, 

 neither too moist nor too dry, and as cool as 

 possible, without admitting frost, or allowing 

 the temperature to fall at any time lower than 

 35°. These requirements will be much pro- 

 moted if a supply of clean, dryish light earth 

 or sand is kept for always mixing among 

 them, which, in the event of being too dry, 

 may be turned out upon the cellar or kitchen 

 floor, passed through an inch-mesh sieve, to 

 keep out any potatoes or stones left among 

 it, then sufficiently and regularly moistened 

 by frequent light sprinklings of clean water, 

 accompanied by repeated turnings, before 

 being again intermixed among the potatoes. 



Beet-root, unlike potatoes, will bear a few 

 degrees of frost almost without sustaining 

 any perceptible deterioration thereby. And 

 it requires the utmost care in taking up, con- 

 veyance, and storage, so as to avoid the least 

 bruising or mutilation of even its smallest 

 extremities. Nor should its leaves be cut off 

 nearer than half-an-inch to its crown — some 

 even recommend leaving as much as 6 inches ; 

 but in the latter case too much decayed vege- 

 table matter becomes introduced into the 

 mass when the roots are stored in bulk. 

 When pitted in the manner of potatoes, beet- 



root is apt to become mouldy, and liable to 

 premature decay, besides losing much of its 

 deptli of colouring and delicacy of flavour. 

 And when kept too dry, or too much exposed 

 to the air and light, toughness or stringiness 

 is induced ; hence it keeps best when stored 

 in heaps upon cellar floors, in root-houses, or 

 in sheds — the crown ends of the roots being 

 turned outwards, and each layer of them 

 carefully laid alternately with a layer of 

 dryish sandy mould ; not perfectly dry sand, 

 mould, or coal ashes, which have been re- 

 commended, but all of which are objection- 

 able. Then the whole should be finished 

 with a close compacted 12- to 15-inch thick 

 covering of straw ; and a similar mode of 

 storage may be applied to carrots, parsnips, 

 turnips, salsify, scorzonera, &c. 



With the exception of the tubers of that 

 very excellent, but too little appreciated, 

 vegetable, the ocas of the Peruvians— Oxalis 

 crenata — none of our culinary roots are so 

 susceptible of injury from frost as the potato. 

 But while beet will stand several degrees of 

 frost, carrots still more, turnips a yet greater, 

 and Jerusalem artichokes perhaps the greatest 

 amount of cold, without becoming what is 

 actually deemed frosted ; yet frost to any 

 extent, although it may not perceptibly 

 aff"ect the texture, does, in all cases, depre- 

 ciate the quality of any culinary roots that 

 are exposed to it. Much stress is often 

 laid upon the thawing of frosted roots in 

 the dark, or before they are in any 

 way exposed, touched, or handled, till the 

 frost has entirely left them. No doubt there 

 is much in this, as far as regards the appear- 

 ance and texture of the roots so treated ; 

 but as regards their qualities, these are often 

 only faint remnants of former excellence. 

 And here it may not be amiss to notice the 

 practice occasionally followed in some parts 

 of the country, of allowing potatoes to stand 

 where they grew through the winter, after 

 laying an extra furrow or two over them with 

 the plough. Unquestionably most of the 

 tubers, when so treated, retain what may be 

 termed their vital or growing freshness, al- 

 though that they must have been thoroughly 

 penetrated by the frost in the course of the 



