552 



ROOT CROPS 



ROOT CROPS 



bases of the poles ; the split timbers are then set 

 against a ridge-pole in the form of the letter A. The 

 timbers are fitted as closely as possible, so as to 

 form a comparatively tight side. The ridge is 

 about six or six and one-half feet above the sur- 

 face of the ground, which, with eight-foot pieces, 

 makes a room about eight feet wide, six feet high 

 and any length desired. If the room is not more 

 than sixteen or twenty feet long, the door is placed 

 in the end, but, if it has a greater length, the door 

 is usually placed in one side and given the same 

 slant as the side of the building. After the frame- 

 work has been completed, the structure is covered 





Fig. 787. Root cellar. "A" construction. 



with a layer of straw or turf and earth to the de- 

 sired depth to give the needed protection. Board 

 chimneys six or eight inches square are provided to 

 give ventilation. One is sufficient for a house of 

 any length up to sixteen feet, but another should 

 be used for each additional ten feet. When it is de- 

 sirable to increase ventilation, or to enable the cel- 

 lar temperature to be maintained at an unusually 

 low point early in the fali, or late in the spring, 

 tile intake pipes can be arranged to carry the cold 

 night air from the outside to the cellar. The in- 

 take pipes should be provided with dampers to 

 exclude the heated air of the day, but opened at 

 night when the temperature falls low enough to aid 

 in cooling the pit. 



The interior arrangement. — The interior arrange- 

 ment of the root cellar will depend on the use to 

 which it is to be put. If for the storage of beets, 

 turnips or carrots for stock-food, it should be ar- 

 ranged to store them in bulk without the construc- 

 tion of bins. If it is desirable to store several kinds 

 of roots in the same cellar and keep them separate, 

 then the construction of bins will be desirable. 

 Usually it will be best to use only earth or concrete 

 floors, the partitions for the bins being made of 

 plank or concrete. 



Special types of storage houses. 



Besides the types of storage structures already 

 described, there are in use among the producers, as 

 well as dealers in root crops, structures which are 

 designed to carry such products as are injured by 

 freezing through the severe weather of the winter. 

 Preeminent among the crops which are thus stored 

 may be mentioned onions, sweet-potatoes, Irish 

 potatoes and celery. 



Houses for sweet-potatoes, onions and Irish pota- 

 toes. — In general, the types of construction of stor- 

 age houses used for the storage of the sweet- 

 potato, onion and Irish potato, are very much the 

 same. They are usually built above ground or as 



bank structures, part of the basement being be- 

 neath the surface of the ground, and so arranged 

 as to be conveniently approached by wagon and by 

 water or railway transportation facilities. Build- 

 ings for this purpose are built of stone, concrete 

 or wood, the walls being made as nearly frost- 

 proof as possible. When brick, stone or concrete 

 structures are employed, the walls are so con- 

 structed as to carry a dead-air space. In addition 

 to this they are usually furred out and lined with 

 paper and matched lumber. If stone or concrete is 

 used, either hollow blocks or solid walls are built 

 and furred out as above described. In frame con- 

 struction, 2 X 6 or 2 x 8 studding are employed, and 

 paper is placed between the studding so as to 

 divide the space between the front and back of the 

 studding, so that when paper flooring and ceiling 

 are placed on the two sides a double space is 

 formed. It is customary to place on the outside 

 matched sheeting, a layer of paper and weather 

 boarding, and on the inside matched boards, paper, 

 furring strips, paper and another layer of matched 

 lumber, thus making three dead-air spaces in the 

 wall. Such buildings, built entirely above ground 

 and located in the extreme northern potato regions 

 of the United States, are practically frost-proof. 

 The precaution which is taken in the storage of 

 perishable products in such buildings is to keep the 

 products from contact with the outside walls. 



In the case of storage houses for sweet-potatoes 

 which are built much after the manner described, 

 they need not, in the regions in which sweet-pota- 

 toes are grown, be provided with so many dead-air 

 spaces. The potatoes are usually stored in bulk in 

 bins which are kept from the outside wall by slat- 

 cribbing placed about eighteen inches from the 

 outside wall. The sweet-potatoes are harvested as 

 soon as the first frost injures the vines. The pota- 

 toes are dug so as to dry as thoroughly as possible in 

 the field. They are then carefully gathered into small 

 baskets holding five-eighths to one bushel, and car- 

 ried, preferably on spring wagons, to the storage 

 house, where they are placed in large heaps in a stor- 

 age room, which is kept by means of artificial heat at 

 a temperature of about 80 ° to 85 ° throughout the 

 harvest period, and for at least ten days or two 

 weeks thereafter. A common practice is to place 

 the potatoes in layers about two feet deep, which 

 may be separated by pine needles or some dry ab- 

 sorbent material which will act as an insulation to 

 the different layers. With these facilities and 

 proper ventilation, provided the tubers are not in 

 contact with the earth or a concrete floor, but 

 rather on a board floor elevated some fifteen or eigh- 

 teen inches from the earth, and so arranged that cold 

 air shall not be admitted after the curing period 

 has passed, the potatoes can be kept very success- 

 fully until February or March, or even on to the 

 bedding period for the next year's crop. 



Irish potatoes may be stored in bulk in cribs 

 similar to those described for sweet-potatoes. A 

 more common practice, however, is to store them 

 in bushel crates or in gunny sacks ; but bags or 

 gunny sacks are likely to be unsatisfactory. If they 

 are stored in crates they are placed in tiers about five 



