374 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



But, one day the gift of a few plants from the old home bay-window so 

 increased my longing for them that not even the thought of 30° below 

 zero could check it, and soon I was collecting and propagating plants with 

 all my former fervor. I wanted this old favorite and that new beauty, 

 until, finally, last fall found me the possessor of several hundred more 

 plants than our windows would accommodate. So, we began looking 

 about for some economical way of keeping the most hardy ones until they 

 would be bedded out again in the spring. 



In the East, we wintered such plants in a light, warm, airy cellar, but 

 here ours was dark and damp, and not always frost proof, so we feared to 

 trust them there. The cost of building and warming even a small green 

 house, sixteen miles from town, was not to be considered for a moment, 

 and from the shape of our house a conservatory was equally impracti- 

 cable. 



A pit seemed to be the only alternative, but, never having seen one nor 

 even having read of one suitable for this climate, it was with the crudest 

 of plans that we began preparing one. Our most definite ideas were that 

 it must be mostly under ground, partially covered with glass and as warm 

 as it could be made. 



The result of our work was an excavation nine feet wide, eleven feet 

 long and four feet deep,surmounted by a gable roof seven feet on the front 

 or south side, and five on the back. The difference in the sides was made 

 to give more light and, at the same time, to permit of banking up well on 

 the north side. 



Two double windows, four by six feet each, surrounded by a tight 

 six inch frame, were placed on the front side, the lower edges being even 

 with the plate. Double boards, a foot wide, between the windows, on 

 either side and above (so as to permit of dirt being banked high over the 

 peak and edges and around the windows) completed the covering of the 

 south side. For extra protection, heavy mats were made to cover the 

 glass, and two wooden shutters were fitted to the frames. These last 

 were convenient also in summer, as a protection against hail and rain. 



The gables and north side were first covered with shiplap, over which 

 were placed two layers of tar paper, held apart by double lath to make a 

 dead air space. Another covering of boards was then put on, and this. In 

 turn, overlaid with tar paper. Each time the tar paper was carried over 

 the board on the front and securely fastened around the windows. A foot 

 or more of dirt was then put on, and, just before freezing weather, a load 

 or two of manure was added. 



As the pit was about twenty feet south of the house, it had to be en- 

 tered from the outside; so a small opening was made through the 

 ground at the east end, just large enough to admit of a steep stairway 

 and of the swinging back of a narrow door. The doors, one opening into 

 the pit, the other into the entrance, were fitted tight against either side 

 of a four-inch door jamb. A frame was made around the opening, and a 

 trap door fitted into it, to keep out the snow and rain, as well as the cold. 

 A mat over the trap door in the coldest weather, with a little hay above 

 it, kept even the entrance way above the freezing point. Frequently, too, 

 we put a little hay over the windows at night. Probably, we covered the 

 pit much more than was needful the greater share of the time, but, as we 

 were only experimenting, we preferred to do a little extra work rather 

 than wake up some morning to find everything frozen, besides it only took 

 a few moments to put on the extra covering. 



