558 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



they had read and learned while in the native land of the sparrows. It would 

 seem that here there is so much more insect life to feed upon that the spar- 

 rows have no taf?te for vegetable or fruit food while they can gather so easily 

 what they like better, and feed and fatten on animal food of the richest and 

 most inviting kind. 



STORIXG AXD KEEPIXG WIXTER APPLES. 



M. B. Bateham, of Painesville, Lake county, Ohio, gave a description of the 

 Cope or Quaker fruit houses of Columbia county, Ohio. He visited these houses 

 in March, 1875. The weather was then mild, but the winter had been very 

 severe and changeable, and the fall previous was quite warm and dry ; hence 

 apples were generally too ripe at gathering time for keeping in the best man- 

 ner. At Nathan Cope's residence are three of the fruit-houses, each of the 

 capacity of about five thousand bushels, and each nearly full of apples of vari- 

 ous kinds, all in fine condition. The buildings are of plain and cheap con- 

 struction, the sides of rough boards without paint, resting on stone founda- 

 tions, banked up with earth. The size is about twenty-five by fifty feet, one 

 story and a half high. The Avails are double, with about a foot of dry porous 

 material (tan-bark or sawdust) or confined air between, and the ceiling over 

 the fruit-room the same, so as to have it frost-proof and as nearly air-tight as 

 possible. The body of the house is one large room, having double doors at 

 each end, and a passage-way for a wagon through the middle, with bins for 

 holding the fruit on each side, composed of movable slats, held in place by 

 upright posts. The floor under these bins is made of narrow strips of board, 

 having air spaces between, through which ventilation is had from about a foot 

 of space beneath the floor, and into this space fresh air is admitted by means 

 of several large tubes passing through the foundation wall on each side, which 

 can be opened or closed as desired, according to the state of the weather and 

 the fruit. Then overhead in the fruit-room are two or three circular openings 

 like stove-pipe holes, with tubes passing out through the roof, for carrying ofi" 

 the moist air, while the cold and dry air is coming in from beneath. 



The plan of operation is, when the fruit is put in, to admit air freely during 

 frosty nights and other cold spells, excluding it in warm weather, and during 

 winter admitting cold air at all times, — only avoiding freezing of the fruit, 

 which will not take place quickly, or until the mercury inside is several degrees 

 below the freezing point, — then to hold the fruit as near as possible at the 

 freezing point until spring; and this can be done with very little attention 

 when one has learned the art, provided the house is well constructed. I was 

 told that during the three winter months the temperature had not varied more 

 than two degrees from the freezing point ; and the perfect condition of the 

 apples certainly corroborated this statement. 



The residence of Joseph Cope is five miles from IS'ew Yfaterford, and near 

 East Fairfield. His fruit-house is of the same general form and proportions, 

 but of better workmanship, and his mode of ventilation is more perfect. The 

 wall and ceiling being frost-proof and air-tight, the floor is also tight, except- 

 ing openings under the middle of each bin of fruit, and beneath these open- 

 ings are ventilating troughs passing the whole length of the house under the 

 floor, and opening out through the end walls, for the admission of air. 



Inside of each of these troughs is a rod, which is attached to sliding valves, 

 so arranged that by pushing or pulling the rod from the outside of the build- 

 ing the air is admitted or excluded from the fruit-bins at will. There are also 



