FRUIT AND FRUIT HOUSES. 125 



The ripening of fruit is the completion of the chemical 

 process by which starch is transformed into sugar, and is the 

 first step toward decay. Decay is a process of fermentation, 

 and is but the continuation of the ripening process. Whatever 

 promotes fermentation will hasten the ripening and decay of 

 fruit ; whatever retards fermentation will tend to its preserva- 

 tion. The conditions necessary to the perfect ripening of fruit 

 on the one hand, and its preservation on the other, may be 

 stated as follows : — 



1. Unless fruit attains a certain degree of development 

 upon the tree, the ripening process will not continue after it is 

 separated from the tree. So true is this, that when one side of 

 a fruit is fully and the other only partially developed, the ripen- 

 ing will be confined to the former part, which will be rich, 

 melting and juicy, while the latter will remain hard, green and 

 tasteless. This is not unfrequently seen in the Easter Bcurre 

 pear. 



It is desirable that fruit should remain upon the tree as long 

 as possible without too great risk of injury from hard frosts or 

 by blowing off; but nothing is gained by allowing it to hang 

 after the leaves have fallen, whether from disease or natural 

 ripening. From the first to the middle of October will be found 

 the best time for gathering winter apples and pears here ; but 

 on dwarf trees or in sheltered places it may hang longer than 

 on tall standards or in exposed situations. I lutve kept pears 

 on the tree until the middle of November, but without deriving 

 any advantage from it. 



2. The fruit must be gathered carefully when perfectly dry, 

 and must not be bruised or chafed. The waxy secretion found 

 on the skins of fruit, especially grapes and plums, and less 

 abundantly on apples and pears, is a natural provision for the 

 protection of the skin from the eifect of moisture ; and there- 

 fore the skin should not even be wiped lest the bloom be removed. 

 When the skin is broken by bruising, so that the oxygen of the 

 air comes in contact with the juices of the fruit, fermentation 

 commences immediately, and decay soon extends throughout 

 the fruit. „ 



3. Fruit must be protected from frost, which is well known 

 to completely disorganize its texture. 



