10 



ventilation and in cooling. Wood may be used instead of con- 

 crete, but it is not rat-proof. The two front walls should be 

 1 or 2 feet apart, and the space between should be filled in with 

 earth. The walls may be supported by planks and the roof by 

 timbers and planks overlaid with a layer of sod, and 2 feet or 

 more of earth and a top covering of sod. Such a cellar may be 

 ventilated by means of a drain tile projecting from the roof. 

 The tile ventilator should have a raised projecting cover or roof 

 to shed rain, and it might be necessary to cover it tightly in 

 very severe weather. Such a cellar 8 feet wide and 30 feet long 

 would hold 700 bushels of roots. The roof may be arched or 

 may have rafters and a ridgepole. On level ground root cellars 

 are constructed partly above and partly below the surface, but 

 they must be well drained and provided with thick double or 

 triple walls with one or two wide air spaces between, and such 

 buildings are expensive. 



Ditch Stokage. / 



Where it is necessary to store only a small quantity of roots 

 a ditch in a well-drained hillside will answer every purpose. A 

 ditch may be dug 1 or 2 feet in width and 3 feet deep and half 

 filled with vegetables, such as beets and turnips, and covered 

 with straw or seaweed before danger of freezing. In severe 

 weather it may be necessary to cover with earth, over which, in 

 turn, boards may be laid and even another layer of straw and 

 one of earth. The lower end of the ditch should not be ob- 

 structed except by straw or similar material, on account of 

 drainage. The writer has kept roots and vegetables in such 

 ditches throughout the winter. 



Outdoor Pits. 

 Farmers and market gardeners keep quantities of vegetables 

 successfully in outdoor pits, and even fruit has been kept satis- 

 factorily in such a manner, but fruit is likely to lose its flavor 

 when too near the earth. Vegetable pits are constructed on a 

 side hill if possible, or dug down 6 or 8 feet deep, so that the 

 contents are kept considerably below the surface of the ground. 

 Such a pit usually has a double pitch roof with an opening 

 covered by a 3 by 6 feet shutter, or something similar. This 



