PRESERVATION OF VEGETABLES IX WINTER. 317 



close will require to be shipped in smaller packages than 

 those that lie so loosely that the air can pass among 

 them ; for example, Melons may be safely packed in a 

 barrel, while if Tomatoes were so packed, they would be 

 utterly destroyed. 



The winter or fall shipping of vegetables is the reverse 

 of the summer, for then we send from the North to the 

 South, our colder and damper atmosphere being more 

 congenial to the growth of late crops. Close packages 

 are now used, but still not too large ; barrels being best 

 suited to such articles as Beets, Carrots, Celery, Onions, 

 Parsnips, Potatoes, or Turnips, while Cabbages and 

 Cauliflowers may be shipped in crates or in bulk. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

 PRESERVATION OF VEGETABLES IN WINTER. 



Our manner of preserving vegetable roots in winter is, 

 I think, peculiar to this district, and is very simple and 

 effective. 



After taking up such crops as Beets, Carrots, Horse- 

 radish, Parsnips, Turnips, Potatoes, etc., in fall, they are 

 put in temporary oblong heaps, on the surface of the 

 ground on which they have been growing, and covered 

 up with five or six inches of soil, which will keep off such 

 slight frosts as are likely to occur, until time can be spared 

 to store them in permanent winter quarters ; this is done 

 in this section, usually, during the first part of December, 

 in the following manner : A piece of ground as dry as 

 possible is chosen ; if not naturally dry, provision must 

 be made to carry off the water, lower than the bottom of 

 the pit. The pit is dug out from three to four feet deep, 

 about six feet wide, and of the length required ; the roots 



