The Northern Pacific farmer., 1883-10-04
Kitchen and Market Gardens.

1ne important Work aC this TIM
is getting ready to place crops il
their winter quarters lin far norther,
localities they must be stored thi:
monthly, and making all possible pre-
paration for spring. Among roots
beets and carrots should not be ex
posed to the frost. while parsnips
satisfy and scorzonera are not inj jured
by hard freezing, but made sweetei
and m ore tender. Where the qnanti.
ty of roots to he stored is large. they
may be pitted above ground. The
roots are to be piled up in a sharply
conical heap. against which is placed
a layer of straw. ''Shutters" (made
by:fastening lalf-inch boards together
with battens), are laid upon the straw,
and, before freezing weather, Il suf-
ficient covering of earth, to exclude
frost, is placed over the shutters,
leaving ventilating space at the top
which later may he closed with straw.
If the roots are in small quantity, or
if it is desired to remove portion
during the winter, the trench used by
market-gardeners will be convenient.
A trench or pit is dug in place
where the water will drain away from
it. It may be three feet deep and six
feet wide. or of a size suited to the
quantity to he stored. The roots are
carefully laid up. for about two feet
of the length of the pit, until they
reach the level of the surface. Then
another stack of roots is built, six
inches from the first, and 50 on. The
spaces between the stacks of roots are
filed with earth. The pit, when fin.
ished, consists of stacks of roots two
feet long. separated by six-inch walls
of earth. This allows the removal of
a stack of roots without disturbing
the others. A covering of leaves will
be sufficient at first, but as cold wea.
ther approaches, the pits must be
covered with earth, we'll rounded up
to shed water. Large quantities of
roots should not be stored in the
house cellar, for sanitary reasons. A
moderate quantity fol kitchen use
may be kept in the cellar in barrels or
boxes, and covered with dry earth.
If parsnips, satisfy, ETC.. are left in
the ground, enough for use while the
ground is frozen may be stored in this
manner. A small root cellar for the
kitchen may be made by sinking a
cask, all the better if it has 10 bot
tom, not far from the kitchen door,
and providing it with cover The
roots, placed in this, and covered with
foot or so of leaves, will keep we'll
and be accessible. Cabbages should
remain until there is danger of their
being frozen into the ground. The
simplest way of preserving them is to
place them on the ground with their
roots up, and cover the heads before
the ground is frozen, with four to six
inches of soil. For family use, dig a
pit several inches deeper than the
height of the cabbages; stand them
closely togeth"r in the pit, heads up;
cover with several inches of leaves
and lay on a roofing of boards, slant
ing, so as to shed rain. Celery for
winter use should be stored before
freezing weather. Dig a trench a
foot wide and deep enough to hold the
celery with it's tops at the level of the
ground. The plants, having been
brought into proper shape 10y ''hand-
ling. are to be placed upright in the
trench, as close together us possible.
AS cold weather approaches, cover the
tops with leaves or straw; increasing
the covering as the weather grows
colder; it is we'll to lay some boards,
to make slant .ng roof over the cover.
ing. A supply for several days may
be kept in 4 cool cellar, by placing a
couple of finches of soil in the. bottom
IF box. Onions are best kept in a
loft, and covered with hay. Squashes
md sweet potatoes must be stored
where the temperature can be kept up
TO sixty degrees.
Bedding Pldnts.-The above is a
general name for the :lants that are
get out in masses, such as Geraniums,
Verbenas, Heliotropes and others.
These are rarely worth taking up after
. summer in the open ground.-Amer.
ican Agriculturist.