HARVESTING AND CLEANING SEEDS. o7 



roof, over which put twelve inches of soil and sod the 

 whole. 



The door should be to the southward, and so arranged 

 as to be covered in severe cold weather. No windows are 

 necessary, as all roots keep best away from the light. 

 The inside may be divided into bins, of any convenient 

 size, but here, as in pitting, it will be advisable not to put 

 too many roots in one bulk. An ordinary cellar can be 

 used, if free from frost and yet not over-warm ; but the 

 main difficulty generally is, cellars are too dry, and there 

 is too much light. Roots will keep well in a cool cellar, 

 placed in heaps, and covered with thin sods. 



Onions should be kept in a dry loft, well ventilated, 

 and spread thin until settled cold weather, when they 

 may be put thicker, and covered with straw mats, straw, 

 or hay. They must not be disturbed while frozen, nor the 

 covering removed until they become thawed out away 

 from the light and air. Directions for preserving green 

 roots, such as celery, etc., arc given under their respective 

 heads. 



HARVESTING AND CLEANING SEEDS. 



Particular attention must be paid to these two points. 

 Seeds, to look well, should be perfectly clean, entirely free 

 from chaff, sticks, sand, and all foreign matter, and in 

 cleaning, much depends on how they have been harvested. 



Beans, peas, etc., will be more or less damaged in ap- 

 pearance if exposed to rains after they are ripe ; so also 

 will wet weather injure seeds of cabbage, turnip, etc., by 

 destroying the color, and causing some to sprout if long 

 exposed. 



In fact, all seeds have a much brighter appearance when 

 harvested as soon as ripe, than when allowed to be wea- 

 ther-beaten. Hence, while it is essential that all seeds 



