September, 1922 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



188 



Home Storage of Garden Products 



C. B. Alden, Toronto 



THE main factors in the successful 

 storage of garden products are 

 temperature, ventilation and humi- 

 dity. After devoting care and labor 

 during the summer to the raising of 

 vegetables, and other things that 

 may be stored, it is only good business 

 to give careful attention to these factors. 

 Properly stored vegetables are almost as 

 good as those gathered fresh from the 

 garden. About 75 per cent of the vege- 

 tables that are in the garden at the end 

 of the season may be kept for at least a 

 few weeks, and many of them all winter. 



The ideal temperature for vegetables 

 tubers and roots is around 35 degrees F. 

 It should never be allowed to fall below 

 32 degrees, and should be kept as uniform 

 as possible. For best results, a thermo- 

 meter should be kept in the storage room 

 and the temperatm-e observed constantly. 



Good ventilation is essential because 

 it prevents heating and excessive damp- 

 ness, and therefore checks sprouting, 

 decay and the growth of molds. Root 

 crops should be kept away from the walls. 

 Large piles may have wooden pipes 

 placed upright in the centre for ventila- 

 tion. These pipes can be made very 

 simply by nailing three boards together 

 so as to form a triangular tube. 



The humidity of the storage room need 

 not be high, but absolute dryness is not 

 desired, as this would lead to a serious 

 shrinkage and deterioration in size and 

 quality respectively. If there is a furnace 

 in the cellar, the portion of the latter 

 devoted to root storage should be parti- 

 tioned off. Excessive dryness may also 

 be prevented by covering the roots with 

 slightly moist sand. It may be neces- 

 sary to sprinkle this occasionally with 

 water. On the other hand if there is 

 too much dampness, it is a sign that the 

 ventilation is deficient. More harm is 

 done to vegetables by having the air too 

 dry than too damp. 



Storing Potatoes and Roots 



When potatoes are stored in crates or 

 in shallow piles they usually lose too much 

 moisture and shrivel. They are best 

 stored in covered barrels or small bins. 

 They should not be piled or enclosed in 

 quantities where any one potato will be 

 more than four feet from the air. The 

 best temperature is between 32 and 

 40 degrees F. Care should be taken to 

 keep earth out of the pile, as much of it 

 in any one place may prevent ventilation 

 and cause heating and rotting. Potatoes 

 should not be kept too dry however, or 

 too well ventilated. The storage con- 

 ditions should be moderate. Above all, 

 see that the potatoes when stored are 

 sound and not frozen, and that they are 

 kept absolutely dark to prevent greening 

 by hght. 



Turnips, kohlrabi, carrots, parsnips. 



salsify and winter radishes will keep 

 right through the winter if given only 

 ordinary care in storage. Evaporation 

 must be prevented and the roots kept 

 cool. If the storage room is dry, pack 

 these things in clean, dry sand, either in 

 a pile or in boxes or bins, and take out 

 when wanted. Where conditions are 

 exceptionally dry, it may be necessary to 

 moisten the sand occasionally, but never 

 do this if the storage place is warm as 

 well as dry. Be sure also, that the roots 

 are kept dark. In sections of the country 

 where alternate freezing and thawing 

 during the winter is not too pronounced, 

 or freezing in itself too severe, most of 

 the root crops may be stored in pits in 

 the garden and covered with straw and 

 earth. Parsnips and salsify may be kept 

 in the ground where grown all winter 

 and used before the tops have grown 

 again two inches in the spring. 



Cabbages, Celery, Onions 

 Cabbages keep the best when piled 

 not too deeply on slated shelves, so as 

 to permit airing. A temperature just 

 above freezing point is the ideal. Late 

 varieties, perfectly sound and not too 

 ripe, are the only ones fit for storage. 

 Small numbers may be kept by hanging 

 them by the roots from the ceiling. As 

 cabbages are not injured by moderate 

 frost, they also may be stored in garden 

 pits. 



Celery keeps best in a moderately dry, 

 cool, well-ventilated place. The bunches 

 should be rooted in earth in a cellar or 

 cave or box. The tops should be kept 

 dry and the soil moist; hence, there 

 should be care in watering, so as not to 

 wet the f oUage and make conditions 

 favorable for the development of disease. 

 Onions should be thoroughly cured 

 when harvested. Dr)mess is a first 

 requisite of storage and coolness comes 

 next. Spread the onions not more than 

 10 inches deep on slated shelves, so as 

 to permit of free air circulation. The 

 best temperature is just about freezing. 



Miscellaneous Crops. 



Squashes and pumpkins should be well 

 ripened and cured. They should be free 

 from bruises and the stem or stalk end 

 should be left on. They will stand a 

 considerably warmer temperature than 

 most other vegetables, preferably from 

 50 to 60 degrees; hence, a room in the 

 house usually will be found better for 

 storage than a cellar. They keep best 

 on shelves in a dry place. , 



Endive and head lettuce may be had 

 fresh for some time after frosts come, if 

 stored like celery. Citrons will keep for 

 a little while, if stored in the same 

 manner as squash. Parsley and horse- 

 radish may be kept in the ground where 

 grown all winter. Parsley may also be 



transplanted, if desired, to boxes and 

 grown in the house. 



Tomatoes may be kept for some weeks 

 by bringing the well-matured green 

 tomatoes or the vines with the tomatoes 

 on, into the house or cellar before frosts 

 come. Most of them will ripen and be 

 very acceptable as soon as they color. 

 The tomatoes may be placed on shelves 

 or in boxes where it is fairly dry, and the 

 vines may be suspended from the ceiling 

 or on a wall. 



How to Keep Fruits. 



If fruits are to be kept in storage, 

 only the proper varieties should be 

 selected, and the specimens should be 

 firm and free from bruises and disease 

 or insect injury. The storage room 

 should have a temperature at as near 

 freezing as possible, but not below and 

 it should be moderately moist. Apples 

 and pears keep longer when wrapped in 

 paper, placed in boxes and covered. 

 They keep well also in barrels, if stored 

 in a place that is fairly well ventilated. 



If conditions are right some of the 

 hard-skinned late varieties of grapes 

 may be kept for a considerable time with 

 success. The bunches do best when 

 wrapped in paper and packed in boxes 

 or baskets that are shallow and covered. 

 Flower Bulbs and Tubers. 



Tuberous rooted plants and various 

 kinds of flower bulbs may be preserved 

 quite easily if extremes of temperature 

 and moisture are avoided. The bulbs 

 or conns of gladioli may be stored on 

 shelves or trays in any cool cellar or 

 convenient place that is free from frost. 

 Dahlia tubers will keep wherever potatoes 

 will keep safely. The proper tempera- 

 ture is about 50 degrees. Keep them dry 

 and not too damp. Canna roots require 

 more care than the gladiolus or dahlia. 

 If kept at a lower temperature than 50 

 degrees, they are apt to rot, particularly 

 if too damp; if kept too warm, they are 

 apt to grow, although a little growth will 

 not hurt them. Store in a warm corner 

 of the cellar, out of draft, leaving the 

 soil on the clumps, or store covered with 

 sawdust in boxes a couple of feet from 

 the ground, as the dampness and cool- 

 ness of the soil is apt to rot them. 

 Tuberous begonias should be placed in 

 boxes and the soil and tubers allowed to 

 dry together. About 50 degrees is the 

 right temperature. For these and all 

 other bulbs and tubers, the main secret 

 of success is to keep free from frost. 



Lime should be used on sour or acid 

 soils, either at the early stages of making 

 the lawn, or in fall, applying 1000 pounds 

 of ground lime to the acre. For extremely 

 acid soils like muskeg, apply 1000 to 

 1500 pounds of hydrated lime or 1000 

 pounds of caustic or quick lime is best. 

 These act more quickly than ground 

 lime. Several years may elapse before 

 results will be seen from the latter form. 

 —A. H. Tomlinson, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



