November, 1914 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
331 
Two Modern Farm Buildings 
The Root Cellar 
W HERE roots are intended to be used 
as feed, it is usual — as it is more 
convenient — to put them below the feed 
room, where they may be readily obtained 
and prepared. Such root cellars are likely 
to freeze in extreme cold weathers, and 
some method for heating them under such 
conditions should be provided. The best 
way to do this is to build a chimney con¬ 
taining a large flue, 16 x 10 inches, which 
does service as a ventilating flue when not 
in use as a chimney. Ventilation for the 
root cellar is as important in preventing 
undesirable conditions as ventilation for 
the cow barn or horse stable. Roots 
mold and spoil very quickly if deprived 
of a circulation of air, so that the root 
cellar must be so ventilated as to insure a 
circulation of air throughout every part 
of it. The volume of fresh air here need 
not approach in extent that required by 
the buildings for housing the animals. If 
the ventilation is arranged so that the air 
will come in at the extreme end and be 
taken out at the other, it will provide all 
that is necessary. 
There seems to be a difference of 
opinion as to whether the floor is better 
of earth or concrete. Some farmers pre¬ 
fer the latter, for its possibilities of clean¬ 
liness, while others will tolerate nothing 
for the storage of roots but the soil in 
which they are grown. The character of 
the site and the position of the cellar with 
respect to it are important factors. A dry 
cellar must be assured at all times, and 
good drainage and a sandy soil are the 
necessary natural conditions. If such 
conditions prevail, the root cellar is best 
without a concrete floor. Where other 
considerations place the farm buildings on 
low ground, every precaution should be 
taken to provide a dry cellar—water¬ 
proofed floors and walls and careful 
drainage of the foundation. After a dry 
place has been provided, sand may be put 
in over the concrete floor. 
The difficulty of the root cellar under 
the feed room is that it frequently thrusts 
the cellar so deep in the ground that in 
some localities it is difficult to keep it dry. 
To obviate this the author has tried sev¬ 
eral times to construct a root cellar above 
ground, forming the walls of three thick¬ 
nesses of building tile or of studding and 
filling the spaces between with sawdust or 
granulated cork. This construction has 
been entirely successful in keeping the 
contents from freezing, but only when 
this room has been placed in the farm 
building. For the isolated root cellar the 
only satisfactory one is found by going 
into the side of a bank and constructing a 
chamber whose top as well as sides is 
completely covered by the earth. The 
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