122 



RENNIE S AGRICULTURE. 



Storing and 

 Ventilating 

 Field Roots. 



Pitting, Cover- 

 ing and Venti- 

 lating Roots. 



When putting roots into a cellar it is advisable 

 to run them over a slatted chute, so as to riddle out 

 the earth. No tops should remain on the roots, as 

 they will soon decay and injure the roots. Where 

 the roots drop into the cellar they are liable to heat 

 unless an opening is made (funnel-shaped) nearly 

 to the bottom. There are two important matters 

 in connection with the successful storing of roots. 

 The first is to keep them sufficiently cool; the 

 second to prevent them from freezing. To accom- 

 plish this, stone or cement basements underneath 

 barns should be sheeted on the inside of wall, and 

 also sheeted overhead or under the upper floor. 

 The principle of ventilation in a root cellar is the 

 same as that required to cause a draught in a stove. 

 The openings above are useless without small 

 openings below, similar to a damper in the front of 

 a stove. For this purpose a number of small drain 

 tiles should be put in the bottom of wall next to 

 cattle stable, and near to the top of the wall have 

 large openings, which should remain open all winter. 

 The outside windows should be kept open every day 

 until the winter sets in — say the beginning of 

 December. About the 25th of December it will be 

 necessary to bank up the windows with stable 

 manure to keep out the frost. 



When there is not sufficient cellar room the 

 balance of the roots may be pitted successfully. 

 Mark out pit of the required length, about six feet 

 wide, and excavate three or four inches. The earth 

 should be laid along the sides. Dumping carts are 

 move convenient than waggons for unloading roots 

 into pits. Build the roots up to a point four or five 

 feet high (see III. 64), then cover with straw about 

 three inches, and with earth six inches. This cover- 

 ing is sufficient until the end of November, then re- 



