Home Storage of Vegetables 341 



squashes, and pumpkins the air should be rather moist. 

 This prevents wilting and shriveling. 



(5) The storage room should be dark. As a rule vege- 

 tables keep best in darkness. Some vegetables, like 

 Irish potatoes, become somewhat green, and root crops 

 may start growth if they are not kept in darkness. 



Storage in the house cellar. An unheated frost-proof 

 cellar is an excellent storage place for nearly all garden 

 vegetables. A cellar with a furnace in it is likely to be 

 too warm for very long storage of most vegetables, and a 

 cool room should be partitioned off. This is usually 

 made in one corner, with the outside walls of the cellar 

 forming two sides. The other walls of the cool room 

 should be tightly built of tongue-and-groove lumber, 

 with double walls, or else made of hollow tile. 



For ventilation there should be a window with a chute 

 built into one pane and leading to the floor. This per- 

 mits the entrance of cool, fresh air. A hinged door in 

 place of another pane is provided to allow warm air to 

 escape, thus insuring perfect ventilation. In severely 

 cold weather these may be closed to prevent freezing. 



Cabbages, beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and 

 potatoes are stored in bins or shelves built about the 

 walls or placed in boxes, baskets, crates, or barrels that 

 are rather loosely stacked. Packing in dry leaves, straw, 

 or sand aids in keeping root crops in good condition. 

 Celery, curled endive, and pe-tsai may be packed in 

 boxes, with the roots in soil or sand. If water is added 

 to the soil about the roots at intervals, the plants will 

 remain remarkably fresh ; but the tops should be kept 

 rather dry, or they may rot. 



