1)08 
THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 
iNOTES OF THE STORAGE OP ROOT CROPS. 
BY GEOEGE GRAY, 
Head Gardener, EweU Castle, Surrey. 
all gardens large enough to produce a sufficient supply 
of vegetables for the family, one of the prime neces- 
sities is a properly constructed house for the storage of 
potatoes and other roots for winter and spring use. An 
expensive structure is not required, provided the internal 
temperature is not quickly affected by sudden changes in the weather 
outside, the means of ventilation sufficient, and room enough for 
storing the crops in a manner that will admit of their examination 
wbeiiever circumstances may render it desirable. Cellars are usually 
devoted to the storage of roots during the winter, but they are 
generally too damp, and also insufficiently ventilated ; consequently 
the danger exists of the quality of the produce being impaired, and 
the health of the occupants of the house injured, by the exhalations 
arising from decay. 
The most essential matters to be considered in keeping roots 
through the winter, are to exclude the air from them to preserve them 
in a plump condition ; at the same time to provide the means of 
allowing the ready escape of all noxious exhalations, and to remove 
all roots commencing to decay before they contaminate others con- 
tiguous to them. 
The root-house should be erected with the floor a few feet below 
the general level, and in a shady situation, the north side of a wall 
or building being probably the most suitable. The sod taken out in 
excavating the foundations, etc., should be banked up against the 
walls, for it will help to keep the house warm in winter and cool in 
summer. A thatched roof is preferable to one of slate, and if 
the latter is employed the roof should be lathed and plastered for the 
purpose of securing a more regular temperature. The most con- 
venient-sized house will be one twelve feet in width and eight or ten 
feet in height, and of a sufficient length to hold the greater propor- 
tion of the crops grown. The length must be determined by the 
requirements of the family, but the width here given will admit of 
shelves four i'eet in width on each side, and a walk of the same width 
in the centre. Two shelves of stout boards on each side will suffice, 
and the first should be about four feet from the floor, and the second 
three feet above it. The uprights and cross pieces supporting the 
shelves must be of sufficient strength to support the rather heavy 
weight they will have to bear, and to keep the roots in their proper 
place grooves on the uprights should be provided for fixing boards 
in front when required. This can be readily done by nailing two 
strips of wood at a distance of about two inches apart. It will be 
better to fix the ventilators in the roof, and then air can be admitted 
without its having to pass so directly over the stores as would other- 
wise be the case. The pathway may be of bricks or foot tiles, the 
latter being the most preferable; stone or slate may also be 
employed. 
