The Busy Woman s Garden Book 



delay is all to the good. If the beets are to be 

 stored in a root cellar covered with earth it is not 

 material whether they are topped or not. I have 

 sometimes thought that they kept rather better if 

 the tops were allowed to remain; certainly there 

 is, then, no loss from bleeding, and if piled in 

 heaps with the tops all one way overlapping each 

 other, but the tops free, it is far easier to find and 

 remove them when wanted. Slight freezing does 

 not injure beets if thawed out in cold water, but 

 severe freezing does, so that sufficient earth should 

 be used to cover them and the earth maj^ be pro- 

 tected with blankets if necessary. If no root 

 cellar is available the beets should be topped and 

 packed with earth in bins or boxes in the vegetable 

 cellar. If necessary to store in furnace cellar 

 place as far from the furnace as possible. Where 

 no other place for storage is available running a 

 partition across one end or corner of the cellar 

 will provide a place that will keep most vegetables 

 in good shape and the expense will be covered 

 by the saving in stock. The various wall boards 

 advertised are excellent material with which to 



228 



