THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 369 



natural form and character are destroyed by an injudicious mode of 

 culture in our houses. 



Most of the species from Xortli America, from !^[exico, Chili, and 

 the South of Europe, may be kept through tbe winter without fear of 

 danger, by putting them in a temperate dry greenhouse. If put in 

 a hot-house for the winter they will soon become sickly, from attacks 

 of the scale and other iusects. Dr. L. Pfeifi'er's description and 

 synonyms of the living Cacti in the German gardens point out the ^ 

 native country of every species of Cacti, and should, therefore, be 

 used as a guide by every cultivator. 



ADVICE ON PRESERVING FRUIT. 



T is qiiite as important to keep fruit M'ell as to grow it well ; for, inde- 

 pendent of the advantag-i of maintaining a supply until rhubarb and 

 strawben-ies come in with the opening of a new summer, the festivities 

 of the winter season, and of Christmas especially, make great inroads 

 on the fruit-store, and without a good fruit-store those festivities must 

 he either additionally expensive or lack one at least of their prominent attractions 

 in the way of table decoration and gustatory enjoyment. That frait-keeping is 

 not reduced to dednite rules so as to be worthy of the nama of an art, much less 

 to make pretensions to come within the domain of science, is certain from the 

 variety of the methods adopted, and the occasional failure of many or even all of 

 them. "NVe have more than once recommended a simple plan which has been long 

 followed in our own household, and has proved the best of many which have been 

 submitted to the test of experience. We have a number of glazed earthenware 

 pans, the measurement of which is sixteen inches inside measure. These are all 

 provided with close-fitting lids, and at the top of the house there is a broad plat- 

 form assigned to one lot ; and at the bottom of the house, in a cool, dry, underground 

 cellar, which has a thorough ventilation through it, is a rack-shelf running all 

 round, where another lot is placed. These pans we use only for apples and pears 

 that are to be kept as long as possible, and in them they keep till far into the 

 next spring, if proper precautions are taken in their management. In either case 

 they are safe from frost. At the top of the house there is a slight rise of tem- 

 perature on a sunny day, which is checked by means of a window which opens 

 over the platform, but any serious rise is prevented by the distance of the platform 

 from the roof, which is twenty feet above it, with a holloAv lo(t intervening. The 

 fruit is put in the pans when quite dry, with no sawdust or any other material 

 between them. Just as gathered, without being rubbed, they are consigned to 

 these receptacles, and in storing them every one that has the slightest speck is 

 either thrown out fur immediate use, or left over to form trie top layer. When 

 the pans are full, the litis are shut down close, and the pans set in order, and 

 from that time till the whole are consumed, the pans are opened onc^ a week, the 

 lids left off for an hour, and then replaced. At the same time, any fruits that 

 .show a tinge of brown, or any other sign of decay, are removed. At every alter- 

 nate airing — that is, once in a foitiii;','ht — a f-jw of the top layers are removed, and. 

 perhaps one or two in the centre lower down, which allows of a pretty clear view 

 of their general condition, and once a month the whole are taken out and replaced^, 

 and, of course, any removed altogether that show signs of distress. Decay is 

 infectious ; an iipple that may have a slight bioiise may pass muster at first, but in 

 a very short time a brown patch breaks all round the spot where it has been 

 injui-ed. If allowed to remain in tlio midst of a lot of sound fruit, those next it 

 become similarly affected, and if no care be taken the whole store may very soon 

 pass into a state of useless and obnoxious jelly. The examination is but a small 

 task, even where there may be many varieties of fruit so stored. With a a extra 

 pan ready, the operation commences with removing the fruit from the fir»i jian into 

 that, and so on to the end, when the pan last dealt with will remain ovei to com- 

 mence with next time. The rationale of the method appears to be that the exuda- 

 tions from the fruit condense upon them and form a sort of varnish. Being shut 

 TOL. II. — NO. XII. 24 



