STORING TURNIPS AND OTHER ROOTS FOR WINTER. 
347 
STORING- TURNIPS AND OTHER ROOTS FOR 
WINTER. 
Throughout almost the whole region where 
roots are raised in any abundance for stock 
feeding, in winter, this is the most important 
month in the whole year ; for now is the season 
in which they must be secured against frost. 
Nine tenths of all those which are lost every 
winter might be saved by attention to them 
this month. A few hints, although often before 
given, will still be useful to some of our read- 
ers, new beginners, perhaps, as to what should 
always be done in putting away these valuable 
crops for winter. 
Storing Turnips. — First, be sure and pull them 
in dry weather, if possible. Throw them to- 
gether as they are pulled, but not in large 
heaps; otherwise, the dirt adhering, will be- 
come mud by the sweat of the pile before the 
tops are cut, if suffered to lie any considerable 
time. Never pull nor wring off the tops, but 
cut them smooth with a sharp knife. Select a 
dry, smooth spot upon descending ground, to 
form the heap, which may be long or round, 
provided no round pile exceed 100 bushels. 
Lay the roots in a smooth pile, the sides on an 
angle of about 45°, and cover with straw, laid 
on straight, so as to form a good thatch. Rye 
straw is the best. Cover with just earth enough 
to preserve them, which will vary from two 
inches to two feet, in different latitudes of this 
country. No definite rule can be given. In 
all the warmer latitudes, the piles, or heaps, 
should be provided with ventilators. Nothing 
is better for this purpose than a bunch of fagots 
about six inches through. Four boards, six 
inches wide, nailed together, and bored full of 
auger holes, set in the centre of the pile, like a 
chimney, will answer an excellent purpose. 
The ventilator must be protected against rain, 
and carefully covered before freezing weather. 
In digging the dirt around the pile for cover- 
ing, form a continuous ditch, in order that water 
cannot run in. Be careful the roots are dry 
and sound when put away, and you may be 
assured they will keep in fino condition. 
Storing Common Potatoes, by the same rules, 
will be found most effectual. If you ventilate 
the. heap, as above directed, you need have no 
fear of covering it too warm at first. 
Storing Sweet Potatoes. — These are very diffi- 
cult to keep, in all places, particularly in freez- 
ing climates. They must be kept very dry 
and warm. . And yet not too warm. A very 
good plan is practised by Dr. Philips, of 
Mississippi, first, by laying down a bed of 
cornstalks several inches thick, which serves 
as an underdrain and ventilator, leading from 
the sides to the one in the centre. The 
outside, he also covers with cornstalks and a 
very little earth, and the whole protected 
with a temporary roof. It is a very cheap, and 
with him, a very effective way of preserving 
this most valuable edible root for all the south- 
ern portion of the United States. 
Mr. DeLaigle, of Augusta, Georgia, raises 
from 3,000 to 5,000 bushels of sweet potatoes 
every year. A very common crop with him is 
300 bushels per acre. His method of preserv- 
ing them is in an immense roothouse, made of 
bricks, partly below the surface, in which the 
roots are stored with pine straw, which is one 
of the best absorbents of moisture he could use, 
and serves to keep the potatoes free from the 
dampness so natural to them. 
Storing Beets and Carrots. — These roots re- 
quire much more careful handling than turnips 
and potatoes, but with proper attention, may be 
put up and kept in the same way. Beets are 
often injured in cutting off the tops. They must 
not be cut too close, if you would keep them 
sound through the winter. Do not try to beat off 
the dirt adhering to the small rootlets. Let it 
dry and then adhere as much as will. To keep 
these delicious roots fresh and sweet for family 
use, pack them in dry sand, in a cool, airy cel- 
lar, but not cold enough to freeze. S. R. 
. -♦- 
WHY IS THE GARDEN MORE FERTILE THAN THE 
FIELD ? 
The universal answer to this question, is, be- 
cause it is more highly manured, and therefore 
has a richer soil. This is not always the case. 
But it is owing to the finely-pulverised condi- 
tion of the beds, that gives it a highly absorb- 
ent power to attract moisture from the atmos- 
phere — a source of fertility that many farmers 
scarcely seem aware that they possess. If the 
soil of the field were as carefully worked, and 
fresh earth constantly exposed to the atmos- 
phere, as in the well-tended garden, the land 
would increase, rather than deteriorate in fertil- 
ity. Let the rule be, " plow deep, cultivate well, 
pulverise lumps and sods, and return the straw 
to the soil," and you may carry off an immense 
quantity of human food, and still have a fertile 
soil remaining. 
Plants, in their nature, are organised be- 
ings. By means of their roots they take up 
food from the soil — and often, the very food 
which the soil has taken up by its power of ab- 
sorption from the atmosphere, and which power 
is increased to an almost indefinite extent, by 
disintegrating the particles of which it is com- 
posed. The very act of plowing and harrowing, 
is an act of manuring. The act of stirring the 
earth, in times of drouth, serves as a watering of 
the plants. The moisture thus absorbed is 
loaded with a fertilising power that is lost upon 
a hard surface, for it lacks the power of ab- 
sorption. 
If, then, you would have your fields as fertile 
as a garden, you must not depend alone upon 
manure, but pulverise freely, not upon the sur- 
face alone, but deep below it. 
.-».. . 
Feeding Stock on Pea Fields. — This is the 
month more than all others that cattle and hogs 
die from eating peas. Be careful and feed your 
hogs well with corn or salt slops, before turning 
them in. Salt and feed your cattle well. Do 
not turn hungry cattle upon fresh pea vines 
If you have not nogs enough this year to make 
your meat, look out now for a supply, before 
they are put up to fatten. You can raise pork 
better than you can buy it with cotton. 
