ROOT CROPS FOR FARM STOCK. 185 



length required. This bed is excavated ten to twelve 

 inches deep, and the soil is thrown out on the bank. 

 The roots, either Mangels, Turnips, Carrots, or Potatoes, 

 are built up evenly to a sharp point about five or six feet 

 in height, so that the roots form almost an equal-sided 

 triangle, six feet on the sides. This bed of roots is then 

 thatched over with four inches of straw, after which the 

 earth is banked over the whole about one foot in thick- 

 ness. This covering of earth and straw is sufficient to 

 keep out any degree of frost that we have in this latitude, 

 though we rarely have it much below zero. In colder or 

 warmer sections, judgment must be used to increase or 

 lessen the covering. Vents, or chimneys, made by a 

 three-inch drain pipe, or anything of similar size, are 

 placed every six or seven feet along the top of the pit, 

 resting on the roots, so that the moisture generated may 

 escape. In extremely cold weather, these vents or chim- 

 neys should be closed up, as the cold might be severe 

 enough to get down to the roots. Pits so constructed 

 rarely fail to preserve roots perfectly until late in spring, 

 and are in every respect preferable to root cellars; for, 

 no matter how cold the weather may be, they are easily 

 got at; the end once opened, the soil forms a frozen arch 

 over the pit. Mr. Crozier says he has practised this plan 

 for years on his farm at Northport, L. I., some of his 

 pits containing hundreds of tons of Mangels, etc. 



GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



There are a number of garden vegetables that can be 

 kept equally well by the same method as that recom- 

 mended for farm roots. The only difference would 

 be, that the pits may be made somewhat narrower, so as 

 to accommodate less quantities. Although such crops 



