SUMMER MEETING AT BROOKFIELD. 161 



instead of the dread and aversion with which these little creatures are 

 now so generally regarded 1 ? 



So of our insect musicians, if we learn something of the wonderful 

 and ingenious mechanism of their musical apparatus and of the mys- 

 terious impulses that prompt their use, the otherwise meaningless din 

 that assails our ears becomes at once a tone in the symphony of nature 

 whose loss would diminish the gladness of the summer days and take 

 half the charm from the summer nights. 



REQUISITES FOB FRUIT-ROOMS. 



THEIR CONSTRUCTION, MANAGEMENT AND RETURN. 



I take it for granted that the Tennessee inquirer who wants a fruit- 

 house or fruit-room for keeping perishable fruits and vegetables, and 

 proposes to build the walls of boards filled in with sawdust, does not 

 intend to employ ice for maintaining a low temperature, as such houses 

 are only adapted to large establishments and require much skill in 

 superintendence. For common or smaller capacity, the leading and 

 essential requisites are: A building or room with non-conducting 

 walls, and ventilating windows which may be opened on cool nights 

 for the admission of cold air and be closed again for retaining this cool 

 air while the temperature is higher outside in the daytime. In very 

 cold weather in winter the windows are, of course, closed to prevent 

 freezing. One or two thermometers are to be used and frequently con- 

 sulted for maintaining an even temperature. Such a house, properly 

 regulated, will keep fruit a few degrees above freezing through a large 

 part of the year, except in summer, when there are no cool nights for 

 filling the apartment with cold air. In a building like this, regulated 

 as described, winter apples, which commonly decay before the arrival 

 of the warm weather of spring, have been retained in good condition 

 until middle of June; and our early winter pears, such as Lawrence 

 and Xelis, have been kept in fair eating condition into February and 

 March. This fruit-room may be a separate apartment in the basement 

 of a dwelling; or it may be a building specially erected for the purpose. 

 If a separate building, it may be placed on slightly descending ground 

 and sunk a foot or two below the surface ; but this is not absolutely 

 essential. Erect the frame of 6-inch studs, or 8-inch if the building is 



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