STORING VEGETABLES 73 



openings should be shut perfectly tight. This holds 

 the cold air throughout the day, and even for sev- 

 eral days if the door is not opened too frequently. 

 This treatment should be repeated every night when 

 the outside temperature is lower than that of the 

 storage. When severe freezing weather exists it 

 may be necessary to keep the openings closed the 

 most of the time in order to prevent freezing. Even 

 under these conditions some ventilation should be 

 given in order to remove the foul and stagnant 

 air, replacing it with the cold fresh air from the 

 outside. With a little care this can be done with- 

 out chilling or freezing the vegetables in any way. 



Where the entire cellar is not desired for storage 

 purposes a small room may be partitioned off from 

 the furnace or work room, complying with the 

 above requirements and giving excellent satis- 

 faction. It is difficult to understand why so 

 few people, owning their own homes and in almost 

 every case with basements under the entire house, 

 have yet provided no place for the proper storage 

 of fruits and vegetables. The result is that these 

 supplies are bought from day to day for double and 

 quadruple the price they could be secured for in 

 the fall of the year if some satisfactory place was 

 provided where they could be stored without serious 

 loss. The utter lack of any storage facilities in 

 many city homes is to a very great extent respon- 

 sible for the present high cost of living. 



The outside cellar is another form of storage de- 

 serving of especial mention in connection with the 

 truck and home gardens. This type is at its 

 best where it can be made in the side of a slope. 

 Here it is commonly known as a cave or dugout, 

 The construction is comparatively simple and the 



