80 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



if allowed to ripen on the trees. Mr. Barrj^, when editor of 

 " The Horticulturist," aptly stated, " The process of ripen- 

 ing on the tree, which is the natural one, seems to act upon 

 the fruit for the benefit of the seed, as it tends to the forma- 

 tion of woody fibre and farina. When the fruit is removed 

 from the tree at the very commencement of ripening, and 

 placed in a still atmosphere, the natural process seems to be 

 counteracted; and' sugar and juice are elaborated, instead of 

 fibre and farina. Thus pears which become mealy, and rot 

 at the core, when left on the tree to ripen, become juicy, 

 melting, and delicious when ripened in the house." Winter- 

 pears should not be picked until absolute danger from freez- 

 ing approaches : they will then ripen up firm, with high color 

 and finer flavor. All pears should be picked off, with the 

 stem on, carefully, and handled as little as possible, and very 

 carefully afterwards, as every scratch will turn dark on mel- 

 low fruit, and every bruise will rot it. The practice of some, 

 of rubbing fruit to make it shine, injures the keeping-quali- 

 ties of the fruit, destroys its natural look ; and any exhibition 

 committee should give the natural fruit the preference. 

 Fruit with an unnatural shine on the whole in the plate 

 more properly belongs to the huckster's stand than to the 

 tables of an agricultural society's exhibition. 



To keep pears longest and best, they should be kept in a 

 dark, cool, dry place, with temperature, if possible, at about 

 forty degrees, taking them to a warm, moderately moist 

 place to ripen and soften them: an even temperature of 

 seventy degrees is best. If laid between papers in summer, 

 and blankets in winter, to ripen, they will come out with 

 better flavor and color, ripening quicker, and without wilting. 

 Fruit loses flavor if ripened in a place too cool. 



The two large platefuls of Clapp's Favorite pears and 

 Williams Favorite apples, exhibited by our chairman, attract- 

 ed attention, not so much for being handsome specimens of 

 their kind, but for being "past their season," having been 

 kept by wrapping each one in paper, and packing them in a 

 keg heavily lined with newspapers. The keg was then 

 headed up, and placed in a large ice-house near his premises 

 until the day before the fair. A neighbor of his wraps apples 

 separately in papers, packs them in paper-lined barrels, and 

 then fills the barrels with dry sand, sending them to hot 



