Root- Keeping in Winter 



561 



winter, from which cause, however — and it 

 may also in part be from their having long 

 lain in wet soil — they become watery, as well 

 as earthy tasted, and their edible qualities in 

 every way depreciated, as any one may ascer- 

 tain who will take the trouble, in February 

 or March, of comparing well pit-kept potatoes, 

 with those of the same crop which may have 

 been left till then in the ground, from having 

 been unobserved at the time of lifting. And 

 while this mode of winter-keeping is so detri- 

 mental to potatoes, it amounts to waste in the 

 case of beet-root, carrots, and others, which, 

 although they may retain their forms, are 

 almost unfit for culinary purposes after re- 

 maining over winter where they grew. 



Retarding the sprouting of culinary roots 

 to the latest possible period is a subject 

 which receives far too little attention. Occa- 

 sionally picking off the young sprouts, and 

 turning the roots so as to check their growth 

 by change of position, and the rubbing off of 

 the young rootlets being commonly deemed 

 all that is needed, while for potato pits a 

 a cool shaded site is seldom thought of, and 

 the recommendation that they should be 

 formed in a northerly and southerly direction 

 is by many looked upon as something on a 

 par with the notions of antient authors in 

 regard to sowing, planting, and pruning, at 

 certain defined periods of the moon's age ; 

 yet, from want of attention to this simple rule, 

 many have in early spring to deplore prema- 

 ture sprouting on the southern side of their 

 pits, while on the opposite side the tubers 

 present little or no appearance of bud-swell- 

 ing ; vegetation having been promoted in the 

 former solely by the heat which the southerly 

 exposed side of the pith as absorbed from the 

 sun shining daily upon it at the warmest time 

 of the day. Whereas, had the pit lain from 

 north to south, the sun could only have 

 shone directly upon its sides at six o'clock in 

 the morning and evening, and its rays would 

 have fallen more obliquely on the eastern side 

 as they increased in strength, till at mid-day 

 they would have only rested directly upon its 

 narrow end, falling off again in intensity as 

 they came round upon the western side. 

 Another frequent error is the putting 



VOL. I. 



of too many potatoes that are intended 

 for late keeping into the same pit, 

 which should never contain more than 

 can be taken into the kitchen store at one 

 time, as when the pit is opened up at the 

 growing season, and only a portion taken up, 

 vegetation becomes more rapidly promoted 

 among those that remain. Too many pits 

 may be deemed both troublesome and un- 

 sightly, but only one may be employed, if the 

 precaution is taken to subdivide it effectively 

 at proper distances with earth, in which case 

 the pit should be filled from south to north, 

 so that the slope of the earth divisions will 

 allow of its being progressively opened from 

 the coolest end — viz., north to south. Al- 

 though the differences between unsprouted, 

 and first sprouted roots may not appear pro- 

 minently to the consumer, yet it will seem 

 more evident when it is considered that un- 

 sprouted potatoes contain a much larger 

 quantity of starch than sprouted ones ; and 

 that for the manufacture of beet sugar, those 

 roots which have commenced to sprout yield 

 no remunerative saccharine extract. But that 

 nothing be lost which can be formed into 

 excellent food, it is well to bear in mind that 

 the young shoots of beet-root make an ex- 

 cellent substitution for spinach; and that 

 the blanched sprouts of both common and 

 Swedish turnips are scarcely if at all inferior to 

 those of sea-kale. 



Looking to the importance of thus carefully 

 preserving culinary roots, it is to be re- 

 gretted that the subject has not received 

 more attention at the hands of sanitary re- 

 formers and others, who have the welfare of 

 all classes at heart, and more especially that 

 of city inhabitants, who have only very limited 

 accommodation for root storage at their com- 

 mand \ but many of whom might have much 

 more were architects only instructed to pro- 

 vide proper repositories for them, if only of a 

 few cubic yards in extent; even under the 

 ground floors, where no better situations are 

 available. For up-stair dwellers much better 

 accommodation than they now possess might 

 also be provided. But under existing circum- 

 stances they must, we fear, be content for the 

 present to put up with nothing better than 



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