Home Storage of Vegetables 347 
had cheaper in autumn when bought in bulk. Proper 
storage in a cool room or in pits will keep these in ex- 
cellent condition. It pays the gardener to raise crops 
for storage and to provide simple means of storage, not 
only for the surplus of the crops he raises, but for such 
staple vegetables as he does not raise but can buy to 
advantage in bulk during early autumn. 
Questions 
In what two ways does the garden serve the table? Why 
are crops maturing in summer subject to waste? How can such 
waste be avoided? Give five principal rules applying to the 
storage of vegetables. 
Why is a cellar containing a furnace unsuited to the storage of 
most vegetables ? How can acool storage room be made in a 
cellar? What vegetables may be stored in such a room? What 
vegetables do not keep well in such a room, and where may they 
be stored ? 
How is a barrel storage pit made and used? How are earthen 
storage pits made? What is their disadvantage? How may 
cabbage be stored in banks of earth? What vegetables may be 
stored in pens and how are such pens made? How may hotbeds 
and cold frames be used for storage? 
In what ways is storage for winter use profitable? 
Things to Do and Observe 
To observe how the various vegetables “keep” under the conditions 
of storage which you give them. Watch carefully the vegetables 
you have stored, and if potatoes, carrots, and beets soon shrivel, 
try to determine the cause, and then take measures to remedy this 
defect in your storage system or conditions. If the vegetables 
start to grow, find whether this is caused by too high a temperature 
or too much light. If they rot to any great extent, try to deter-" 
mine whether they need better ventilation or a lower temperature. 
Be sure to remember just which remedy was the most effective 
in each case, so that you can provide the best conditions for 
storage next year. 
