AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 263 



covering them with hay, and by putting them into the 

 cellar; the last mode we think the best." Colonel Powel 

 observes, that one of his crops was " piled in a cellar, in 

 rows, as wood, and covered with sand." A writer in the 

 English Farmer's Journal observes, that he has practised, 

 with success, the following mode of preserving this root : 

 " I pack it in long heaps, about seven feet wide at the bot- 

 tom. I begin by forming the outsides with tne roots, not 

 stripped of their tops ; tops outwards ; the internal parts to 

 be filled with roots without leaves ; continue one layer over 

 another, until the heap is about six feet high, and about two 

 feet broad at top, which may be covered with straw and 

 earth ; the ends of the heap should be covered in the same 

 way : the leaves form an efficient covering against rain and 

 frost." 



'Mr. M'Mahon's mode of preserving beets and other 

 roots is as follows : " Previous to the commencement of 

 severe frost, you should take up, with as little injury as pos- 

 sible, the roots of your turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets, sal- 

 sify, scorzonera, Hamburg or large-rooted parsley, skirrets, 

 Jerusalem artichokes, turnip-rooted celery, and a sufficiency 

 of horseradish, for the winter consumption ; cut oft^ their 

 tops, and expose the roots for a few hours, till sufficiently 

 dry. On the surface of a very dry spot of ground, in a well 

 sheltered situation, lay a stratum of sand two inches thick, 

 and on this a layer of roots of either sort, covering them 

 with another layer of sand, (the drier the better,) and so 

 continue the layers of sand and roots till all are laid in, giv- 

 ing the whole, on every side, a roof-like slope ; then cover 

 this heap or ridge all over with about two inches of sand, 

 over which lay a good coat of drawn straw, up and down, 

 as if thatching a house, in order to carry off wet and pre- 

 vent its entering the roots ; then dig a wide trench round 

 the heap, and cover the straw with the earth so dug u-^\ to a 

 depth sufficient to preserve the roots effectually from frost. 

 An opening may be made on the south side of this heap, 

 and completely covered with bundles of straw, so as to have 

 access to the roots at all times, when wanted either for sale 

 or use. 



' " Some people lay straw or hay between the layers of 

 roots, and immediately on the top of them ; this I do not 

 approve of, as the straw or hay will become damp and 

 mouldy, and very often occasion the roots to rot, while the 

 sand would preserve them sweet and sound. 



