$HE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



269 



dener to her Majesty. 2nd. Mr. Cox, gardener to W. Wells, Esq., Redleaf. 3rd. 

 Mr. Park, gardener to G. H. Vernon, Esq., Retford.— The judges for apples were 

 Messrs. R. Smith, C. W. Strickland, J. Duncan, and H. Bayley. For dessert apples, 

 the first prize was gained by Mr. Newton, gardener to G. Graham, Esq., Enfield 

 Chase. 2nd. Mr. Simpson, gardener to Lady Molyneaux, Stoke Ferry, Slough. 3rd. 

 Mr. T. Frost, gardener to E. Betts, Esq., Preston Hall, Maidstone.— In the nursery- 

 men's class for Chrysanthemums, Mr. Argent, of Stoke Newington, was first, with 

 Christine. 2nd. Mr. Mackintosh, of Hammersmith. Mr. Wortley, of Stoke New- 

 ington, obtained the amateur's prize.— In class 43, 10 pompones (amateurs), the first 

 prize was obtained by Mr. Shrimpton, gardener to A. Doxat, Esq., Putney-heath. 

 2nd. Mr. Wortley, Stoke Newington. — Class 44, 10 pompones (nurserymen) : first 

 prize, Mr. Bragg, Star Nursery, Slough. 2nd. Mr. Forsyth, Shacklewell. 3rd. Mr. 

 Mackintosh, Hammersmith. Mr. Bird, of Stoke Newington, exhibited some beau- 

 tiful specimens of cut blooms. Mr. Hutt, of Dalston, sent six beautiful specimens of 

 pompones, and took an extra prize. 



MANAGEMENT OF A FRUIT-ROOM. 



To keep apples and pears seems, of late 

 years, to be a more difiicult matter than 

 it was years ago, for we hear more com- 

 plaints of fruit keeping badly ; and people 

 want to know how it is they cannot keep 

 their fruit so well as their grandfathers and 

 grandmothers did. The fruits of 1857, 

 though so abundant and fine in quality, 

 certainly proved troublesome to keep ; and 

 in several of the best seasons we have had 

 during the last ten or twelve years, a similar 

 difficulty has been experienced, owing, as 

 it would appear, to some peculiar condition 

 of the ■aceharine, consequent on the character 

 of the season. These exceptionable cases, 

 however, appear to me to be of little conse- 

 quence; the seasons do not differ greatly, 

 taking a series of years, and I suppose our 

 grandmothers now and then found their 

 apples and pears inclined to go soft towards 

 Christmas. To keep fruit well, needs a 

 little philosophy, as well as a little ex- 

 perience. If gathered with great care, 

 and just before becoming dead ripe, all 

 that is requisite is to exclude light, and 

 secure a uniform temperature, of from 

 forty to fifty degrees. A touch of frost 

 may not injure apples severely, but they 

 retain their flavour and appearance better, if 

 never allowed to approach even near to the 

 freezing ' point, and, on the other hand, 

 warmth soon induces a tendency to decay. 



The best place for a fruit-room, is below 

 the general ground level, provided the situa- 

 tion is not damp, and, as to the general con- 

 struction, it need differ very little from a shed 

 for ice as to shelves and other details ; that 

 is to say, the flooring, Avails, roof, &c, 

 should be dry, and dark, and all of non- 

 conducting materials, so as to preserve a 

 uniformity of temperature. If a shed is 

 constructed for fruit, the walls should be 

 hollow, and if they are of wood, the 



hollow space between the planks should be 

 filled with sawdust. To keep out damp, the 

 floor should be of concrete, and the situa- 

 tion should be drained. There should be 

 windows to admit light and air, but they 

 should be filled with close shutters, so as to 

 ensure complete darkness and a still air, so 

 essential to the perfect preservation of 

 fruit. As to shelves, thin strips of /leal 

 with spaces between, are better than planks, 

 and there need not be a single whisp of hay, 

 straw, paper, or any other material that 

 would harbour damp. 



But to be able to provide a regular 

 succession of dessert pears, a source of artifi- 

 cial heat is requisite, and in a place where 

 any kind of heating apparatus is in use, 

 a little of the surplus heat may be turned 

 to account, to warm one corner where 

 a few pears can be brought into condition 

 as required. Of course any great amount 

 of heat in the general store would do much 

 mischief, and so, also, would frost, and in 

 seasons when the frost defies thatch and 

 matting, a little warm air would save the 

 stock at a time when it would be of the 

 greatest need. But there are thousands 

 who are obliged to find room for their 

 winter supplies of fruit in the dwelling- 

 house, and in sheds in the garden, and 

 elsewhere. In all such cases, they have 

 only to remember the conditions above 

 referred to, to be enabled to judge for them- 

 selves as to the best way of turning to 

 account whatever conveniences exist. To 

 describe mistakes, is often more instruc- 

 tive than to give lengthened directions, and 

 I will, therefore, tell how I saw the entire 

 produce of a large garden destroyed last 

 winter. The fruit, consisting of apples and 

 pears, was gathered in damp weather, and 

 without any care to prevent bruising, &c. 

 The baskets were carried to a shed as fast as. 



