Cultural Directions. — 223 



The cellar is 40 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 3 feet deep. 

 The walls, which are 18 inches thick, rise i foot above ground. 

 The rafters reach clear to the ground, where they rest on plates 

 placed there to keep the roof from spreading. The ends are 

 weather-boarded on both sides of six-inch studs, and filled in 

 with sawdust. The roof is also double with a sawdust filling. A 

 number of partitions well-lined with paper, and forming two or 

 three, perhaps even four dead-air spaces of two inches each in 

 width, would probably be still more effective and convenient. 

 The height of the house inside is 4 feet at the eaves, and 11 at 

 the peak. A ventilator at the peak admits air when needed, and 

 gives a chance for the escape of heat that may be generated 

 by the mass of celery. A door at each end, a small window 

 over each to admit light, and steps to get down, complete the 

 house. 



" In storing the celery," writes Mr. Baker, " posts are set in 

 the ground about 16 inches apart, beginning at each side on one 

 end of the house, and coming toward the centre, giving seven 

 posts or alleys to a side, and leaving a passage-way two feet wide 

 the entire length of the building. Three sets of posts on one 

 side of the passage-way, and four on the other will suit 16 feet 

 boards, two and a half lengths on one side, and two lengths on the 

 other. This leaves a space 8 feet square for washing tank, and 

 room to prepare the stuff for market." 



" Beginning next to the wall, we nail a board a foot wide to 

 the post, so that the top of the celery will be even with the top 

 of the board, leaving a space of four to six inches between the 

 bottom of the board and the ground, through which one hand 

 can be thrust to pack the roots firmly while the other holds the 

 tops of the celery over the board. Some loose rich soil is thrown 

 over the roots after the box or trench is filled from end to end. 

 With a hose from the hydrant the soil is given a thorough 

 wetting, and settled around the roots, causing them to throw out 

 new fibres in a few days, when a new growth of the heart 

 commences. Considerable heat will at first be generated by the 

 mass of celery thus stored, and proper ventilation must be given, 

 else rot will surely follow. After the one heating we have no 

 further trouble from this cause." 



Storing for Home Use. — A few hundred plants may be 

 stored in a common cellar, standing them upright on a couple of 

 inches of moist soil or sand upon the floor, and dividing them in 

 narrow sections between upright boards, in a similar way as 

 described for celery-house storage. Instead of placing directly 

 upon the cellar bottom, we can make use of narrow boxes (shoe 

 boxes, for instance) putting in a little moist soil or sand, and 

 standing the plants upon this. An improvement on this plan is, 

 to bore inch holes at the ends and sides of the box, four inches 



