Popular Science Monthly 



781 



ground may be constructed entirely of 

 blocks of sod 2 ft. or more in thickness. 

 One of the most unusual storage houses 

 seen in the course of these studies was built 

 entirely above the ground with the side and 

 end walls constructed of bales of alfalfa 

 hay. 



In the more expensive and substantial 

 structures the side and end walls are built 

 of concrete. The roof of the dugout, or 

 cellar storage house, in the region under 

 discussion is generally of unsawed lumber. 

 Usually the rafters are cut from small 

 trees. The whole roof may be covered with 

 poles and these poles covered with straw 

 and soil, or the rafters may be covered with 

 heavy woven-wire fence netting and then 

 with straw and soil. 



In sections where rainfall is sufficiently 

 heavy to render a straw or pole-covered 

 roof undesirable, the potato storage cellar 

 is constructed with a water-tight roof. 

 Generally, the roof is covered with rough 

 lumber and shingled. Occasionally a cellar 

 is sheathed with matched lumber on the 

 inside. This treatment provides a fairly 

 well insulated roof, which requires but 

 little further protection except in pro- 

 tracted spells of cold weather, when a 

 layer of straw or strawy manure is ad- 

 visable. 



The water-tight roof type of the western 

 potato cellar is admirably adapted to stor- 

 age in the northwestern and middle- 

 western United States wherever good 

 drainage can be secured. Furthermore 



Ventilator. 

 Straw 

 Earth' 



Cross-section of a potato pit with layers of 

 straw and earth and a perforated ventilator 



it is one of the most economical types of 

 natural storage. 



A ventilator should be so constructed 

 that the opening at the top is protected 

 by a cap, which may be rigid or hinged. 

 It should extend through the roof and into 

 the cellar far enough to permit a swivel 

 damper to be inserted and operated by a 



spring or lever, or else a slide damper which 

 can be opened and closed at will. The 

 ventilator should be of sufficient size to 

 admit a reasonable volume of cool air and 

 facilitate the egress of warm air. 



While the total exclusion of light is an 



An insulated frame potato storage house 

 used for storing the second crop of potatoes 



essential feature of the construction of a 

 good potato storage house, it is necessary 

 to have some light where workmen are 

 engaged in sorting and preparing stock 

 for the market or for seed purposes during 

 the winter. Usually no provision is made 

 for lighting the storage house by natural 

 light except that which may filter through 

 the ventilator shafts when lifting the 

 ventilator caps, or which may be obtained 

 by opening the doors. This method of 

 admitting light can be employed in winter 

 only during mild weather. Light is ad- 

 mitted in some storage houses by inserting 

 a movable window glass or hinged window 

 in the ventilator shaft. Such an arrange- 

 ment permits the removing of the ventilator 

 cap in severe weather without endangering 

 the stored potatoes by lowering the tem- 

 perature below the safety point. But this 

 does not provide a wholly satisfactory light- 

 ing system, and reliance must still be placed 

 in a lantern or lamp. 



A Paste Lubricant for Starting 

 Screws and Nails 



BEESWAX and tallow melted together 

 and put into a box or mold make a 

 very good lubricant for starting nails 

 and screws. Owing to the nature of 

 the materials, this paste also prevents 

 rust. — James M. Kane. 



