FRUIT AND FRUIT HOUSES. 127 



here, let us consider what may be better adapted to the wants 

 and means of the fruit-growers of Essex County. 



Security against frost is the first requisite ; for if our fruit 

 ripens prematurely we have only to eat it sooner, but if frozen 

 it is utterly worthless. Where, as in this climate, the mercury 

 sometimes falls to twenty degrees below zero, to afford certain 

 protection against frost, the walls should not be less than three 

 feet in thickness, filled with dry tan, sawdust or other non-con- 

 ducting material ; or they may be made with two walls, each 

 one foot thick, filled with tan, &c, with an air-space one foot 

 wide between. The top and bottom should be built in the same 

 way as the sides, and the bottom made impervious to the mois- 

 ture arising from the earth ; or, better to secure this end, the 

 room may be in the second story of a building. The root may 

 be of the ordinary description. There should be but one 

 entrance with double doors, six inches thick, filled with tan. 

 The window should not be larger than is necessary to admit the 

 light requisite in stowing and examining the fruit. It should 

 be double, and protected by an outside shutter constructed like 

 the doors ; and both doors and windows should be tightly fitted. 

 Or perhaps it would be better to omit the window and use only 

 artificial light, which is less stimulating than sunlight. 



Such a house, when once brought to a proper temperature, 

 will, when closed, retain it for a long time, and never can 

 change it suddenly. Moisture arising from the fruit may be 

 removed by means of chloride of calcium, which possesses the 

 property of absorbing twice its weight of water. It may be 

 spread on the floor or in shallow pans, and when it becomes 

 liquid can be dried over the fire so as to be fit to use again. 

 The entrance should be through an ante-room, in which the 

 fruit may be sorted and arranged, and if the quantity is large, 

 it would be better to divide the house into two or three apart- 

 ments for the earlier and later ripening fruits. 



It is evident that security from frost might be obtained at 

 much less expense by constructing the fruit-room in a cellar. 

 The object of building it above ground is to avoid the warmth 

 and moisture arising from the earth ; but I believe that when a 

 cool, dry cellar, on the north side of a building, can be obtained, 

 it will answer every purpose so well that it would not be worth 

 while to incur the additional expense of building above ground. 



