ondition
during the winter months. Cabbage is not injured by moderate frost.
Cabbage and parsnips will stand freezing and a little thawing, so they
can be put in pits or better still, boxes or barrels set into the
ground may be used. Make the pit mound shaped. If the earth is mounded
around the box, barrel or pit, surface water cannot run in.

If using this kind of storage do not store the products until both the
ground and the products are frozen solid. The idea is to keep the
vegetables frozen or to have very few freezings and thawings, and
those few should be gradual.

After the pit has been made or the box or barrel has been set into the
ground and filled with vegetables, it should be covered first with a
piece of burlap or carpet, then with a mouse-proof board cover and
finally with straw or similar material. When taken from the pit, the
vegetables can be thawed out over night in cold water, after which
they can be kept in the cellar for a short length of time.

The pits for keeping vegetables free from frost must be carefully and
thoughtfully made, but they are cheap and are very useful and
practical when caves or cellars are not convenient.

The frost-proof pit for storing vegetables should always be placed in
as well-drained a place as possible. A shallow excavation should be
made from one to two feet deep, four feet wide and as long as
desired. Line the pit with straw, hay or leaves, then place the
vegetables in a conical pile on the straw. Cover the vegetables with
six inches of the material used in making the lining. This is covered
with three or four inches of earth. The straw is allowed to extend up
through the earth at the top of the pile, thus assuring ventilation.

When it becomes colder add more covering to the pit by another layer
of straw and a layer of earth. In very cold climates a layer of manure
or corn stalks will afford protection against frost.

It is well to make several small pits rather than one larger one for
the reason that when a pit has once been opened it is difficult to
protect the remaining vegetables from frost.

It is advisable to store several varieties of vegetables in one pit so
that when each pit is opened you have a variety of vegetables. If you
follow this plan separate the various crops by using straw or leaves.

Pits are entered by chopping a hole through the frozen earth at one
end, large enough to reach into or crawl into. After the vegetables
have been obtained k