CHAPTER XXX 

 THE STORAGE OF VEGETABLES FOR WINTER USE* 



Although the northern cities and large towns may be suppUed 

 during the winter with fresh vegetables shipped in from the 

 South or in certain cases grown in greenhouses in the North, 

 the smaller towns and country places are likely to be without 

 an adequate supply of vegetables in winter unless some one in 

 the locality has sufficient foresight to store them and put them 

 on the market as needed. Local market gardeners in many places 

 find the marketing of fall-stored root crops during the winter 

 a very remunerative way of employing their time between one 

 growing season and the next. Large quantities of cabbage, 

 onions, potatoes, and other crops with good keeping qualities are 

 likewise stored every winter at producing points for supplying 

 the wholesale trade with these commodities in carload lots. A 

 person who grows vegetables for home use should include in his 

 garden a large assortment of vegetables intended primarily for 

 winter, and give proper attention to their storage. 



Time of Planting. — Vegetables to be stored for winter use 

 should be planted at such a time that they will reach the right 

 stage of development at the proper season for storing. This means 

 that in the case of some of the crops they will be planted consider- 

 ably later than if designed for summer use, since the product is 

 of better quality if not allowed to continue growth after reaching 

 the desired stage of development, and this stage should not be 

 reached before the arrival of the storage season. Since most 

 vegetables usually keep best if put into storage comparatively 

 late, it should be the aim of the gardener to mature the vegetables 

 for winter use as late in the season as he can, and yet have them 

 harvested before they are injured by the cold. If planted too 

 early the root crops are likely to become tough and woody or 

 pithy before the season for storage arrives. If cabbages are 

 planted too early they are likely to burst open before the weather 

 is cool enough for them to be stored. 



The proper time for planting the various vegetables for winter 



* Portions of the present chapter were first pubUshed by the author in 

 Circular 154 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 304 



