STORING THE CROP 43 



floors are formed of boards three and one-half inches 

 wide by one and one-fourth inches thick, with a half- 

 inch space between boards. The roof is made of 

 matched lumber, well put together, covered with several 

 thicknesses of building paper and shingled. The inte- 

 rior of the building is lathed and plastered and the 

 onions will stand zero weather without freezing. 



"On the ground floor there is an alley into which 

 a wagon may be backed for convenience in loading. 

 The building is provided with a return steam heater, 

 so that it may be warmed in coldest weather. There 

 is also a forcing window on the south side, next to the 

 east end. The cost of storage house, steam heater 

 and I GOG crates for onions was $1000. 



"When well cured I store my onions with tops on, 

 and they keep just as good as hay that is well cured. 

 They are not topped until cold. For convenience in 

 putting in the crop, there is a track on the west end 

 of building running from the ground to top floor. The 

 onions are carried up in a small car and dumped into 

 the bins below." 



An additional word of warning will be in place. 

 Never leave onions, no matter how well cured they 

 may appear, in large heaps or in boxes, crates or 

 barrels longer than a few days at most before you 

 pick them over and remove the dead tops, roots and 

 other rubbish. When the onions are once thoroughly 

 cleaned and perfectly dry, they will keep well if stored 

 in slatted crates, or ventilated barrels, etc, otherwise 

 they will sweat, gather moisture, and begin to grow 

 again, or possibly become infected with rot. Neither 

 is it safe to store even clean and supposedly dry onions 

 in tight barrels or boxes for any length of time. 



