If you cultivate a vegetable garden of any size, it is highly desirable to construct a vegetable and fruit storage room in the basement of your house (Fig. 24). A plan for such a room is shown in Fig.

Fig.24. - Shelves arranged in this maimer allow ample Space for storing a variety of fruits and vegetables. Note the potato crates in the lower right-hand corner.

2". the size suggested being 8 by 10 ft. - large enough for most family requirements.

A corner of the basement should be selected, if possible, so as to require building only one side and one end. By the use of one basement sash, ample ventilation is provided. The window is Screened to prevent entry of flies and vermin, the screen being left on permanently. The sash is hinged at the top and provided with a hook so that it may be kept open except during extremely cold weather. When the sash is up, a piece of burlap may be hung over the window to darken the room without seriously interfering with the circulation of air.

The framework of the wall is made of 2 by 4 in. material. Each side is covered with building paper and matched lumber or with wall board, which prevents the heat from the furnace from raising the temperature of the vegetable room.

By the use of two doors, as indicated in Fig. 25, the doorway is sealed against the circulation of air. The doors may be made of 1-in. matched lumber, and should be well strapped and braced. Potatoes keep better if they are in crates than if they are dumped on the ground or floor of the cellar. Place 2 by 4 in. pieces or 1 in. thick boards on the ground or floor where it is desired to set the potato crates. If merely dropped in place, the pieces of wood may be removed easily for cleaning the room. For only one row of crates placed along a wall, pieces from 12 to 17 in. long will do. If two rows are required, the pieces need to be from 30 to 34 in. long. It is preferable to place a second row of crates on the first, to save floor space.

If crates are not at hand for storage purposes, the four-bushel crate or bin, as dimensioned at B in Fig. 26. is suggested. Since a bushel of potatoes contains 2,688 cu. in., a crate for holding four bushels may be made of one piece 2 by 4 by 12 ft., and 42 linear feet of ¾by 4 in. boards. The 2 by 4 in. piece is cut into six pieces 2 ft. long, and three pieces are assembled for each end, as shown, with tenpenny common nails. Four pieces of the ¾-in. material 24 in. long are fastened at each side and end by using sixpenny common nails. A space of 1 in. is left between the boards.

Fir;. 25. - Plan of the vegetable room showing the position of the shelves, window, bins, and racks for supporting crates like the one shown in Fig. 2G.

The floor of each bin consists of five pieces of the ¾-in. material placed on the sills to allow ample air space under the crates. If space is limited, one crate may be placed on another.

Shelves for the storage of cans and fruit are built along the wall of the storage room, opposite the potato crates, as shown at A in Fig. 26. Bins for vegetables, built under the shelves, are part of the same construction. It is to be understood that the length of the shelving is determined by the length of the available wall space.

The framework is made of 2 by 4 in. material, assembled with sixteenpenny common nails. The depth of the shelf is 15¾ in., the width of three matched "roofers" - tongued-and-grooved boards.

The framework and shelving should be assembled away from the wall, so that the boards can be slipped in from the end. By using eight posts that are 6 ft. long, shelving 10 ft. long can be supported. By setting the five shelves 12 in. apart, a space of 26 in. is left below the bottom shelf, which gives ample space for vegetable storage bins. Two 15¾ in. long roofers are nailed to the inside uprights at the bottom, making three bins.

The front boards should be removable to facilitate cleaning the bins. A simple and the special jelly glass racks.

way to accomplish this is by making and nailing guides to the fronts of the posts at the bottom as shown at D. A 1 by 2 in. piece is nailed to the post and a 1 by 4 in. piece fastened to it at the front, forming a pocket for the hoards.

Fig. 26. - Construction of the fruit jar and can shelves, the four-bushed vegetable bins.

A handy shelf for jelly glasses may be made as indicated at C in Fig. 26, and nailed to the wall or studding.