FRUIT AND FRUIT HOUSES. 131 



Paradise d'Antomne and Onondaga pears, when left too long on 

 the tree. 



The majority of apples arc better house-ripened, but the 

 Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Williams Favorite and Graven- 

 stein, should be allowed to hang on the tree until they drop. 



Early peaches, to be in perfection, must be ripened on the 

 tree ; but the latter kinds, ripening after the 25th of September, 

 may be. picked without injury, but rather benefit a week or ten 

 days before ripening ; and some kinds, which are apt to be dry 

 and pasty, are improved as much as pears. 



To sum up as concisely as possible the conditions necessary 

 for the preservation of fruit, they are — well grown, sound 

 specimens, uniform exclusion of light, air, and moisture, and 

 as low a temperature as possible without freezing. The sim- 

 plest method of fulfilling these conditions is the best. 



Our knowledge of this subject is yet very imperfect, and all 

 who experiment upon it should accurately record their attempts, 

 whether successful or otherwise, for their own benefit and that 

 of the public, so that we may ultimately attain to a full under- 

 standing of its principles and methods. I would also urge 

 upon cultivators the importance of originating from seed, either 

 hybridized or carefully selected, new varieties of winter pears, 

 which can be kept and ripened with less trouble and care than 

 those we now possess. The successful experimenter would be 

 well repaid, both pecuniarily and in the consciousness of having 

 conferred a rich boon upon his fellow-men. 



