MATURING OF FRUITS. 311 



attained: hence these apartments must be cool, and con- 

 structed so as to exclude at pleasure the external atmosphere, 

 which starts fermentation. After many years of experience, 

 both with and without the use of ice, I have adopted a house 

 built in a cool, shady aspect, with door on the north, and 

 with a thoroughly drained and cemented cellar whose win- 

 dows may be opened or closed at pleasure. In this way I 

 am enabled to keep my late fall and winter pears until Feb- 

 ruary or March in good condition. Apples may be kept at a 

 lower temperature than pears, say thirtj^-four to forty de- 

 grees. In such a cellar, our associate member, Mr. John F. 

 Brown of Lunenburg, has kept Baldwins to the middle of 

 June, when he has realized as high as from six to nine dollars 

 per barrel. Mr. Brown barrels his apples, and places them 

 immediately in his cellar, where he has control of the tem- 

 perature. 



Late fruits may remain on the trees until severe frosts 

 are feared, but should be gathered with great care. Sum- 

 mer pears should be picked some days before the ripening 

 process commences. A summer pear ripened upon the tree 

 is generally inferior. In respect to the latter Mr. Patrick 

 Barry has so aptly expressed my own opinion, that I use his 

 language : " The process of ripening 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 formation of woody fibre and farina. 

 When the fruit is removed from the tree, at the commence- 

 ment of ripening, and placed in a still atmosphere, the nat- 

 ural 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, if left on the tree 

 to ripen, are juicy, melting, and delicious when ripened in the 

 house. In regard to the use of ice, I would say, that, where 

 fruits are kept for some months under its influence at a low 

 temperature, they seem to lose much of their flavor: the 

 cellular tissue also seems to have become dry, and to have lost 

 its vitality, or power to resume the ripening process. Experi- 

 ence proves, that, for the common varieties of the pear, about 

 forty degrees of Fahrenheit is the temperature best suited to 

 hold this process in equilibrium. Tlie proper maturing of 

 fruit thus preserved demands skill and science. Different 

 varieties require different degrees of moisture and heat accord- 



