458 



HINTS ON THE RIPENING OF WINTER PEAKS. 



express an opiniuii that the liairre Ranee 

 and Easier Ihunc may be put into this 

 class. 



On the contrary the Vicar of Winlfield 

 belongs to a class of pears requiring a very 

 diflerent course of treatment. This variety 

 should never be exposed to frost, but for 

 late keeping it should be placed upon the 

 floor of the keeping-room, and whenever 

 the frtiit is wanted for the table it should 

 be put into tight boxes, wrapped up in cot- 

 ton, and placed in the warmest part of the 

 ripening-room, the temperature varying 

 from 55^ to IS^ ; in this manner the fruit 

 will be ripe in from fifteen to twenty days. 

 Having thus attempted to show that the 

 same treatment is not adapted for the ripen- 

 ing of all the varieties of the pear, (and this 

 I have no doubt will apply to the apple,) I 

 shall proceed to give my views as to the 

 general treatment of autumn and winter 

 pears. 



All pears which come to maturity in the 

 autumn and winter, should not be gathered 

 until the fruit has attained its full growth, 

 (the middle of October is about the season 

 in the neighborhood of Boston.) This 

 should be done by hand, some fine day 

 when the fruit is perfectly dry, putting it 

 away carefully into barrels,* buckets or box- 

 es, t according to quantity, keeping each 

 kind separate, labeling the same with its 

 name, the day it was gathered and the sea- 



* All vessels used to keep fruit in sliould be perfectly dry, 

 clean, sweet and light Barrels, after they have been used as 

 '' flour barrels," are not at all suited for fruit, unless well 

 washed and dried, as the particles of flour left in the barrel 

 will mould, and impart to the fruit an unpleasant odor and fla- 

 vor. Fruit put into lime casks has kept well. Every thing 

 in contact with fruit should be sweet and clean, and the ves- 

 sel in which it is placed dr>' and tight. It should be handled 

 or disturbed as little as possible. 



t When fruit is put up into small boxes, to ripen, it may be 

 wrapped up in cotton batting, but while it remains in the 

 keeping-room, neither straw, paper or other like material 

 should be placed with the fruit, as it is always more or less 

 injurious. 



son of its ripening. Tlic fruit having been 

 thus gathered and secured, it shouhl be ar- 

 ranged in the kcc\nng-room of the fruil- 

 house, as the owner may think proper. The 

 barrels may be placed upon the floor, the 

 baskets hung up, and the boxes placed up- 

 on shelves. Where large quantities of any 

 one kind are raised, bins may be proper. 



The fruit being now placed in the keep- 

 ing-room, care should be taken to keep the 

 room cool, dark and dry ; shutters and cur- 

 tains should be provided for the windows, 

 to close them up, during the day, if the 

 weather is bright, dry and hot ; at night, 

 when the weather will permit, the thermo- 

 meter not ranging below 30^, the windows 

 maybe all, or in part, left open for fresh air 

 and ventilation. The windows and shut- 

 ters should be closed early in the morning, 

 to keep in the night air and to preserve the 

 fruit. If mould or mildew should be seen 

 upon the fruit, it should be removed with 

 a dry cloth or silk handkerchief; if about 

 the floor, or other part of the building, strew 

 a small quantity of air slaked lime about 

 the room. 



As the period of ripening approaches, all 

 the varieties should be examined ; the fruit 

 that shows signs of its soon coming to maturi- 

 ty should be carefully packed up with lay- 

 ers of cotton batting, in tight boxes, and in 

 no case should the box be opened or the 

 fruit unnecessarily exposed to the air. 

 From the time fruit is gathered, until it is 

 jully ripe, it should, in my opinion, be kept 

 in close, dry vessels. The pears thus box- 

 ed up should be placed in the ripening-room, 

 keeping the room at a temperature of from 

 55° to 75° of heat. As the fruit becomes 

 ripe, send it to the table. When the fruit 

 is intended for sale, it should be sent to 

 market a feio days before it \s, fulhj ripe. 

 Samuel Walker. 



Roxbury, Mass., Feb. 1847. 



