Harvesting and Storing Vegetable Crops 



THE principles that are involved in 

 the storing of vegetable crops 

 differ with the various classes. 

 One of the most important points to 

 bear in mind is the fact that much of 

 the decay of vegetables in storage is not 

 the fault of the storage, but is due to the 

 work of diseases with which the crops 

 are infested before they are put in stor- 

 age. Discard all specimens that are 

 bruised and which are likely to decay. 

 The practice of a few prominent growers 

 may be read in the following paragraphs : 



POTATOES AND GARDEN ROOTS 



"The best place to store j)otatoes and 

 garden root crops," said Mr. Jas. Guthrie 

 of Dixie, Ont., to The Horticulturist, 

 "is in a rcx)t house, isolated and specially 

 constructed. Dig the cellar four feel 

 deep and over it construct a house, well 

 roofed with cedar. Around the sides, 

 bank with earth about ly^ feet deep, 

 using sods as first tier next the wood. 

 Keep the house dark, but ventilate 

 every 12 feet. 



"In a roothouse like this, the vege- 

 tables come out in spring in fresh condi- 

 tion. They are also easy to get at when 

 needed in winter. Exclusion of light is 

 important. It makes potatoes green 

 and spoils the cooking qualities. This 

 is illustrated sometimes in the sale of 

 potatoes in cities. Often, the purchaser 

 immediately places them in a well- 

 lighted cellar, and soon they become poor 

 in quality. He then blames the grower 

 for supplying poor stock. This is scarce- 

 ly fair, as the fault lay with the man 

 who bought the goods." 



PARSNIPS 



In' the fall some growers take up only 

 as many parsnips as are needed for 

 domestic use and for sale during the 

 winter. The rest are left in the ground 

 until spring. In digging, leave in the soil 

 as long as possible, but dig before the 

 frost binds up the ground. Store in a 

 cool cellar, and on a sand floor if possible. 

 If the cellar contains a furnace and the 

 atmosphere is warm, it is better to cover 

 the parsnips with sand to prevent wilting. 



"Parsnips left in the ground and dug 

 in the spring will not keep as long as 

 those harvested in fall and stored in pits," 

 said Mr. James Daudridge, of Humber 

 Bay, Ont. "In some soils they are heav- 

 ed by frost. Sometimes they are injured 

 by the ice and snow forming a crust 

 around the crowns; when thaws come, 

 the crowns will start to rot." 



cabbages and cauliflower 



In storing late cabbages, be absolutely- 

 certain, pijijnarily, that they are not in- 

 fested with the black-rot fungus. An- 

 other essential for successful storage is 

 that the heads be kept at a low temper- 



ature, nearly to freezing point. Some 

 vegetable gardeners claim that if the 

 cabbage is allowed to freeze in the fall 

 and kept so all winter it will keep in 

 good condition until March or April. 

 This method is dangerous, however, as 

 there is a great liability of losing the 

 entire crop when the heads dry out in 

 the spring. The best and safest method 

 is to keep the cabbages as near freezing 

 point as possible, at a nearly constant 

 temperature, without allowing them to 

 become actually frozen hard. In this 

 manner they will keep until spring and 

 remain in good ccmdition. 



' ' Late cauliflowers head about October 

 I," said Mr. T. W. Stephens, of Aurora, 



hastens decay. I^ave the roots on and 

 cut off a few of the lixjse outside stalks 

 and any that may have got bruised or 

 broken, then cart to the cellar. 



"Have on hand some damp, not wet, 

 sawdust and some boards. Regain next 

 the wall, and lay first about three inches 

 of sawdust and saturate it well with 

 water, then pack one tier of celery as 

 close together as possible and bank with 

 sawdust slightly moist. Set another 

 row similarly and pack as before, bank- 

 ing about one-half or two thirds of the 

 height of the stalks. Set the plants 

 upright or they will grow crooked. 



"Follow this plan until a space is set 

 about three feet wide, then place a board 



Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables of Niagara District Horticultural Exhibition 



Ont., to The Horticulturist. "They 

 should be harvested at once. Trim off 

 the largest leaves and store, root and all, 

 in a dry cellar. Beware of dampness, 

 as it causes rot. Store on the floor. 

 Cauliflowers may be stored in boxes or 

 barrels if not filled too full. When 

 properly stored, they should keep until 

 February or March." 



storing celkky I.N sawdust 

 Most growers pack celery in sand. 

 While the practice is a good one, there 

 are others who follow a different method 

 of procedure. One of these is Mr. J. C. 

 Black, of Truro, N.S., a well-known 

 authority on these matters in his native 

 province. "When storing celery," he 

 writes, "I used to pack in earth in the 

 basement of a barn, but later on I adopt- 

 ed the plan of packing in sawdust. In 

 taking up the plants in the field, they 

 must be handled carefully so as not to 

 break or bruise the stock; the latter 



254 



8 or 10 inches wide against the last row 

 of celery, and fasten it with stakes. 

 About eight inches from this put another 

 board, both, of course, on their edges. 

 This will leave an eight inch space be- 

 tween them. Pack against the latter 

 board until again three feet wide, then 

 leave another space of eight inches. The 

 spaces are for the purpose of ease in 

 inspecting the condition of the celery 

 and for applying water occasionally to 

 the roots without wetting the tops 

 which causes decay. 



" In this way I have stored thousands 

 of stalks, with good success. Of course, 

 everj'one has not access to sawdust ; in 

 that case, earth will do, but celers' keeps 

 better and comes out brighter and 

 cleaner from the sawdust. This method 

 can be adopted for family use in a small 

 way by packing in boxes. The tem- 

 perature should be kept low but not to 

 the freezing point." 



