A cheaper bank cellar can be constructed by using posts and planks to hold the sides of the bank in place. If the earth is stiff clay, the sides will not require supporting either by concrete or by posts and planks. If posts and boards are used, the roof can be built on top of the posts about twelve inches below the general level of the soil, so as to provide a gutter at the side after the roof frame has been covered with earth and sod. In fact, this arrangement is desirable, no matter what the interior construction.
On level ground in localities where the winters are not severe, root cellars are constructed partly above and partly below the surface. For houses of this kind, concrete, stone, brick and log-crib con struction are used. The kind of building will de pend, of course. on the use, the material at hand and the cost. Since there are no special features to be provided in these structures, except that they are usually placed two to four feet in the ground, the log-crib building only will be described.
Log-crib building. (Fig. 786.)—"If there is no hillside convenient, a knoll or other dry place should be chosen, and the soil removed over a space a trifle larger than the ground plan of the house, and to the depth of two feet or more, provided there is no danger that the bottom will be wet. In the con struction of the house, select poles or logs of two sizes, the larger ones being the shorter ; these are for the inside pen, as it is subjected to greater strain. The ends of the logs are cut flat, so that they will fit down closely together, and make a pen that is nearly tight. At least two logs in each layer of the inner pen should be cut long enough to pass through and fit into the outer pen, to serve to fasten the two walls together, the space between the two being two feet wide on each side. The doorway is built up by having short logs, which pass from one layer of poles to the other, and serve as supports to the ends of the wall poles. This is shown in Fig. 786, in which the house is repre sented as completed. The space between the two walls is filled with earth, sods being used to fill in between the logs to block the earth. It is best to begin putting in the earth before the walls are completed, as otherwise it will require an undue amount of hard lifting.
"When the walls are built up five to six feet on one side, and about two feet higher on the other, to give the necessary slope, the roof is put on. The
latter should be of poles placed close together, well secured to the logs, and covered with sod, eighteen inches of earth, and sodded again on the top. Two doors should be provided, one on the inner and the other on the outer wall, both to fit closely. A fill ing of straw can be placed between the doors, if it is necessary, in order to keep out the frost. Such a house will last for many years, paying for its moderate cost many times over." [Barn Plans and Outbuildings, B. B. Halsted.] The "A" construction. (Fig. 787.)—A construction somewhat akin to this is used extensively through out the Carolinas for storing sweet-potatoes. For this purpose, poles about eight feet long are taken. If of a size to allow splitting in half, so much the better. The ends of the pieces are cut at the same angle that rafters would be cut to give the desired pitch to the roof. A well-drained and somewhat sheltered situation is chosen, the earth smoothed and a slight excavation made in which to place the bases of the poles ; the split timbers are then set against a ridge-pole in the form of the letter A. The timbers are fitted as closely as possible, so as to form a comparatively tight side. The ridge is about six or six and one-half feet above the sur face of the ground, which, with eight-foot pieces, makes a room about eight feet wide, six feet high and any length desired. If the room is not more than sixteen or twenty feet long, the door is placed in the end, but, if it has a greater length, the door is usually placed in one side and given the same slant as the side of the building. After the frame work has been completed. the structure is covered with a layer of straw or turf and earth to the de sired depth to give the needed protection. Board chimneys six or eight inches square are provided to give ventilation. One is sufficient for a house of any length up to sixteen feet, but another should be used for each additional ten feet. When it is de sirable to increase ventilation, or to enable the cel lar temperature to be maintained at an unusually low point early in the fall, or late in the spring, tile intake pipes can be arranged to carry the cold night air from the outside to the cellar. The in take pipes should be provided with dampers to exclude the heated air of the day, but opened at night when the temperature falls low enough to aid in cooling the pit.