Making a Frost Proof Storage Cellar — By a. t. Raven, xl 



SOMETHING TO OCCUPY THE TIME OF THE FARM HANDS WHEN OTHER WORK BECOMES SLACK, AND PROVIDE FOR 

 THE PROPER KEEPING OF WINTER FEED, WHEN CEMENT, STONE OR PLAIN EARTH WALLS SHOULD BE PREFERRED 



A CELLAR that is frost-proof is an 

 absolute necessity for the proper 

 •storage of fruit or vegetables over winter. It 

 must be well drained. During the fall, be- 

 fore the frosty weather arrives, there is abun- 

 dant opportunity for the farm hands to fill in 

 their time in building, the only expenditure of 

 cash being for materials. 



A storage cellar may be merely a hole in 

 the ground, having the plain earth for its 

 walls and roof; or it may be framed in lumber 

 and built of concrete or cement; or it may be 

 of stones gathered on the place and set in 

 mortar. 



The first named is only a temporary affair 

 and though cheapest in the beginning, very 

 soon costs more than a more solidly built 

 place. 



The choice between a cement or stone wall 

 is governed by conditions. If there are 

 stones about the place, but no gravel, it will 

 practically be cheaper to buy the materials for 

 making mortar and build a stone wall. But 

 if there is a good supply of gravel handy it 



Arrange the entrance so as to go in as near on the 

 level as possible 



will be better, usually, to turn to cement or 

 concrete construction. 



Whatever style of cellar wall is made, the 

 arrangements for drainage will not vary. 

 Tile drains laid under all four walls, drain- 

 ing to the most convenient point lower than 

 the bottom of the cellar floor, will give perfect 

 results. 



The root cellar must be located near other 

 farm buildings for the greatest economy of 

 labor, so that the roots, when wanted for 

 feed, can be easily and quickly reached. It 

 is a great convenience if the storage cellar be 

 so placed that it can be driven into with a 

 horse and wagon. This is a simple matter 

 even on a level place by making a gradual 

 approach. It will save an incredible amount 

 of labor in handling. I have seen root cellars 

 on farms built so that it was necessary for 

 every bushel of potatoes, carrots, of mangel- 

 wurzels to be carried down into it in baskets, 

 or other receptacles. If advantage can be 

 taken of a side hill so that the cellar can be 

 driven into on the level, so much the better. 



For an ordinary-sized farm — say forty 

 acres — a cellar fifteen feet wide by twenty- 

 five or thirty feet long will hold all the 

 roots needed for the stock. A larger cellar 

 may be necessary if the farm is producing 

 root-crops which are marketed in the spring. 



If it is cheaper to build the cellar wall of 

 stone than of concrete, I believe that a cement 

 mortar will make a better and more lasting 

 wall. To make such a mortar, use one 

 barrel Portland cement to four barrels of 

 clean sand to which add two pails of lime 

 putty. 



If the wall is to be made of cement, use one 

 barrel f(four bags) Portland cement, three 

 barrels loose sand and six barrels loose gravel 

 or broken stone. 



The walls must be about eight or nine feet 

 high if it is planned to haul the roots into the 



cellar with a horse. Walls of this height must 

 be about 10 inches or a foot thick. I would 

 prefer to have the top of the wall about a foot 

 or so below the surface of the ground so that 

 it could be covered with earth to help keep 

 out the frost. 



To make the walls, build a mold out of 

 2-inch planks. They must be well braced 

 so that when the cement is tamped in they 

 will not spring, leaving ridges in the walls. 

 You will have to put in uprights about three 

 feet apart to do this properly. 



Good ventilation is necessary. Put a ven- 

 tilator up through the roof — one about twelve 

 inches square — and there ought to be a 

 damper in it with which to regulate the 

 draught. 



If the cellar is so built that the walls project 

 above the ground it will be better to build 

 them of concrete blocks. This will make a 

 much better looking wall than where the 

 cement is just tamped into a mold. 



A cellar for storing plants covered with sash and 

 protected from frost by mats and shutters 



For portions of the wall above ground concrete 

 blocKs make the best appearance 



They are laid exactly like bricks, using a 

 cement mortar 



126 



If there are stones on the place they may be used 

 up in the walls 



