ROOT CELLARS AND STORAGE HOUSES 85 



in figure 29. This is an excavation walled up like a house cellar, 

 which can be filled from the outside by means of chutes but is 

 not provided with a driveway, as is the pit shown in figure 28. 

 Frequently such cellars are not partitioned into bins but are en- 

 tirely filled with one huge heap of tubers. 



The farm root cellar. For the farm on which potatoes are 

 not the leading money crop, but where a storage cellar for the 

 family supply of vegetables is needed, an excavation I o or 12 feet 

 wide, 6 feet deep, and any desired length, roofed over with ree'n- 

 forced concrete, will be found a most admirable type of root cellar. 



FIG. 29. Potato storage house on Maine farm 



The side walls need be only 8 inches thick, and just heavy enough 

 to retain the earth and support the roof, which can be made by 

 using inch boards bent over the opening so as to form a kind of 

 boat deck or jack arch. The boards should be cut so as to fit be- 

 tween the side walls and should be supported by temporary staging 

 or posts except through the center, where there should be a good 

 ridge supported by substantial posts. Stretch strong, close-mesh, 

 woven-wire fencing over the boards about 2 inches above them. 

 Run the fencing over the ridge in the same manner as the inch 

 boards. On top of this structure place a layer of concrete from 6 

 to 8 inches thick so as to thoroughly embed the woven wire. After 



