74 BOARD OF AGKICULTURE. 



the apples from the tree, and transfers them to the fruit- 

 cellar, with the least possible chafing or bruising. 



The tendency of the apple to decay during the moist 

 •warm weather which we sometimes have after harvest has 

 been regarded as inevitable, and has had a discouraging 

 effect on this branch of rural industry. Instances are not 

 wanting, where, in sixty days after picking and barrelling, 

 the shrinkage by rot has amounted to seventy per cent. 



Scientific investigation has revealed to us the fact, and 

 repeated experiments prove, that apples carefully grown, and 

 subjected to certain conditions, can be kept in a good state 

 of preservation for almost an indefinite period of time. This 

 must be regarded as one of the very important contributions 

 which science has made to agriculture. 



Any apartment where the light, moisture, and temperature 

 can be controlled at i)leasure will afford the requisite condi- 

 tions. 



One of the least expensive, most efficient, and commodious 

 fruit-cellars that I have ever examined comprised a portion 

 of a barn-cellar. 



The barn was forty by eighty feet, the length running east 

 and west. About sixteen feet from the north wall another 

 partition, averaging two feet in thickness, was built of stone 

 laid in mortar ; and the inside of all the walls and floor was 

 made smooth by a thick coat of cement. The entrance was 

 at the east end, by double doors, the inner one containing 

 a sash. The windows on the north and west consisted of a 

 single sash shielded by wooden shutters on the outside. On 

 the south side of the apartment were two bins seven feet and 

 a half wide and a foot and a half deep, one above the other. 

 Where one has a commodious barn-cellar, and plenty of stone 

 on the farm, I estimate that the cost need not exceed a hun- 

 dred and fifty dollars. 



I was in this cellar early in the spring, and found the tem- 

 perature at thirty-eight degrees ; while outside it was sixty- 

 three degrees. The bins were filled with apples ; and, 

 although they exposed to view a hundred and twenty-five 

 surface yards, I failed to find a single specimen showing 

 any signs of deca3^ 



But let it not be understood that the work of keeping 

 fruit is completed. The building of a fine house is one thing, 



