358 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



More stuff — ten times as much — is ruined by being kept too 

 warm as is spoiled by being kept too cold. Keep the temperature of 

 your cellar as near forty degrees as possible — never warmer than 

 this — and the nearer the freezing point you can crowd it without ac- 

 tually freez^ing, the better. 



Be sure all stuff is thoroughly cooled in the fall before you 

 close the cellar doors for winter. Then keep it dark, and always 

 use a lantern, and under no circumstances allow the daylight to 

 enter. 



Keep a thermometer always in the cellar, and should the tem- 

 terature threaten to go too low, place a lighted lantern in the cellar 

 for a while. This will raise the temperature of a 2,000 bushel cellar 

 about three degrees in twenty-four hours. 



Take as much "pains to keep in the cc)ld in the spring, as you do 

 to keep it out in the winter. To this end, as soon as spring is near, 

 cover the earth on top of cellar with manure or straw and put it on 

 good and thick, so as to keep the frost in the ground just as late as 

 possible. Keep the doors shut tight to keep the cold in. Thus you 

 have a little cold storage plant in the spring and early summer, and 

 when others must sell their goods at what they can get, or see them 

 rot or wither, you can hold yours from four to eight weeks longer 

 and then sell at your own price. By following these directions I have 

 kept, year after year, all kinds of vegetables until very late in the 

 spring and summer. I have kept potatoes until August, cabbage 

 until June 25th, carrots until June 15th, beets until August, ruta- 

 bagas until August, parsnips until May. 



A word as to construction. I believe the coming age is going to 

 be the cement age. In any event I prefer the cement root cellar. 

 Floors, sides and roof all should be of cement. Next to this use 

 stone, and if you have nothing else, use wood. 



Place drain tile under walls and floor and provide an outlet for 

 them. Make doors four feet wide and at least six feet high, so you 

 don't have to "duck" your head every time you pass in or out. 

 Provide shutes, similar to a coal shute, and shute your vegetables 

 in — don't carry them in by hand. 



Provide a ventilator. Have double doors and have them fit tight. 

 Use the same latch as is used in our large ice box door. If you 

 will faithfully follow these few simple directions you will have 

 a successful home storage for fruits and vegetables. 



