128 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



• 



It should be provided with ventilators on the north side ; but 



these should be opened only when the air is cool and dry. The 

 floor should be cemented to avoid vermin. A cellar under a 

 barn or other outbuilding would be preferable to one under a 

 dwelling-house ; or, if obliged to use the latter, it should be 

 rendered independent of heat from above by a non-conducting 

 top, formed by one or two thicknesses of lath and plaster, with 

 air-spaces between, or by filling between the timbers with tan. 

 Similar partitions should separate it from other parts of the 

 cellar. If circumstances necessitated a situation less dry than 

 is desirable, this might be remedied by tight lining of boards on 

 the bottom and sides, with air-spaces of three or four inches 

 between the lining and the floor or walls, or the dampness could 

 be removed by the chloride of calcium. 



It will be found that some specimens of fruit will keep much 

 longer than others of the same variety ; those from an old or 

 unhealthy tree, or from a warm soil, will generally ripen earlier 

 than those grown on young and vigorous trees, or on strong 

 and colder soils. Before being finally placed in the fruit-room, 

 they should be carefully assorted, and those likely to ripen first 

 deposited by themselves. A little experience will enable the 

 cultivator to do this. There is a kind of fungus, having the 

 appearance of black spots, which should be especially thrown 

 out, for it is contagious, spreading rapidly in a warm barrel, 

 and communicating a bitter taste to the fruit. It has been 

 recommended to pick fruit only when cool, avoiding the middle 

 of the day ; but this would reduce the working time so as to 

 cause great inconvenience where there is much to be gathered, 

 for all agree that it must not be picked with the dew upon it, 

 and it is not easy to see why fruit cooled on the tree should 

 keep better than that cooled in the house. It will be found a 

 good plan to gather fruit after the middle of the forenoon, when 

 the heavy autumn dews have dried, and devote the morning to 

 sorting and arranging what has been picked the day before. 



The most critical time in the management of winter fruits is 

 during the beautiful, warm, damp Indian summer days of Octo- 

 ber and November. They will then need special attention to 

 maintain a cool, even temperature, and prevent the deposition 

 of moisture. 



