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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
STORAGE CELLAR FOR NURSERY STOCK 
J. M. Underwood, Lake City, Minn. 
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Experience has demonstrated that it is profitable and 
pleasant to have a storage cellar in most sections of the 
country. Usually, there is a time in October and Novem¬ 
ber to dig and store nursery stock of all varieties, ready for 
spring shipment. The ground is in better condition for 
digging than it is in the spring and there is more time in 
which to do the work. To have all or a part of your stock 
dug in the fall prolongs the spring season, for you can ship 
both earlier and later. It also helps you to work more 
rapidly and accomplish more in the hurrying spring time 
than if you had to do all the digging in the spring. The 
most desirable features of a storage cellar are,—uniform 
temperature and a large capacity. It must be frost-proof 
and heat-proof. It should be so constructed as to be dur¬ 
able and fire-proof. 
To obtain these conditions the Jewell Nursery Company 
built a storage cellar 27 years ago, 57x127 ft., and recently 
added to it a cellar 100 x 200 ft. The first cellar was 
covered with a tar and gravel roof and 
has served purpose excellently, altho it 
was altogether too small. Being built in 
the days when lumber was available at 
a reasonable price, the posts, beams and 
roof boards were all made of pine. 
These have now become so decayed that 
we replaced the old roof with a concrete 
one. 
The cellars are built in a gravel bank 
adjacent to our packing and shipping 
buildings and opening to the east, setting 
back from the brow far enough so that 
the only space exposed is the doorways. 
The new cellar is 12 ft. in the ground at 
the sides and ends. 
The excavation w T as made with 
scrapers, and a part of the dirt piled up 
near by, while some was used in front to 
widen out the approach. The walls are 
made of stone, quarried on the place only a mile from 
the cellar. In the west half we left enough sand and 
gravel to make the concrete for the posts and roof. This 
was screened so that we could get the right proportion,—- 
three parts sand, two parts gravel and one of cement. 
The foundations for posts. —Beginning on the west end 
we put in the foundation for the posts. These were made of 
concrete 3 ft. square and 18 in. deep, and 14 by 18 ft. 
apart. We used forms for the concrete 3 ft. on the bottom 
and 2 ft. on top, and 18 in. deep. Holes for rods were made 
in each corner. The next step was to build forms for the 
posts and roof. 
Posts. —For the posts we used planks placed on end 
reaching from the foundation to the beams. Two of these 
planks are cleated together and these form two sides 14 
in. apart; then nail boards 14 in. long on one side, thus 
making three sides of the form. On the fourth side nail 
boards at the bottom 4 ft. high to receive the first concrete. 
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WORDS OF WISDOM. 
We find your paper very interest¬ 
ing; it keeps us posted as to what is 
going on in general; reports laws 
enacted in the different states either 
for or against the nurserymen besides 
offering excellent suggestions from 
time to time regarding the conduct 
of the business, etc. 
We certainly should never give up 
our membership in the Association or 
our . subscription to the National 
Nurseryman as we value them both 
very highly. 
Charlton Nursery Co. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
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A in. steel rod is placed 1 in. from each corner in the holes 
made for them, and the four are fastened by short lengths 
of in. band iron, looped at the ends so as to slip over the 
rods and thus connecting them. These are placed at 
intervals of 3 ft. apart from the bottom to the beam. The 
rods should be 2 ft. to 3 ft. longer than the posts and bend 
over into the beam. 
Beams. —The forms for the beams are made of 2 in. 
plank and joined to the forms for the posts. Our beams 
were 10 in. wide and 18 in. deep. Between the beams we 
put in 2 x 8 joists, 2 ft. apart, supported by temporary 4x6, 
resting on temporary posts. Anything can be used, either 
sawed or cut in the woods. The top of the joists comes one 
inch below the top of the beam and over the joist is covered 
with boards. These can be rough or smooth as you like. 
For a cellar they can just as well be rough; the hardened 
concrete will then look like the boards. These boards 
should come, even with the top of the beam. In the beams 
place five 1JJ in. rods, made with hooks 
on each end so that they can be hooked 
together. Three of them are to lie 
straight, resting on small one inch blocks, 
and two are to be bent so as to form a 
truss. You are now ready for the 
concrete. The posts should be filled as 
soon as the forms are up and allowed 
to harden for a week. Then fill the 
beams and cover the roof. 
A mixing machine is indispensable. 
You cannot afford to mix by hand. Be 
sure to use enough water so that the 
concrete will run well and settle into 
place. If it is too dry it will not make a 
smooth surface, and is liable to crumble 
after the forms are removed. 
In filling the beams pour in enough 
concrete so that with hooks you can raise 
the three straight rods up one to three 
inches from the form and rest them in the concrete. When 
one section of the beam is full, begin at one corner and 
cover the roof. Put on 2 inches of concrete and then lay on 
F2 in. rods, 9 in. apart. These should be long enough so as 
to lap over the beams a foot or more, and each section of 
these rods should lap each other a foot. Let the concrete 
and rods lap over the stone walls, and on to the ground one 
foot. Set up a 5 in. board on the ground to retain the con¬ 
crete until it is set. 
Removing the forms.— After allowing the forms to re¬ 
main for a week or more, they can be easily removed by 
knocking the temporary posts out at the foot and allow the 
beams and joists to fall. The boards can be removed with¬ 
out much injury to them. The forms for the posts and 
beams can be pried off and the cellar is complete. 
Lighting. —We put in forms for three sky-lights at equal 
distances in the center of the roof. They are 8 ft. square 
and are built up 18 in. above the roof. On the top of these 
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