CONSTRUCTION OP FRUIT ROOMS. 



man of singular vivacity and activity, and indefatigable in his endeavors to bring forward 

 the cultivation of his lands; of great and essential service, by his example, in the em- 

 ployment he finds for so many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of 

 the place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and public generosity, 

 and deserves great respect and esteem, not only from indivivuals, but from the town and 

 counti y he has so greatly benefited, and especially by the ways in which he makes use of 

 that vast estate wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him." 



Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it sixty years ago; 

 and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by equally valuable men, then existed, 

 and still exist in all our older states; and if our private and public virtues are preserved, 

 will ever exist in every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible illustrations 

 of the morals of correct building on the ample estates of many of our American planters 

 and farmers. The mansion house, which is so graphically described, we saw but a short 

 time before it was pulled down — then old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of 

 wood, and of style something like this design of our own, bating the extent of veranda. 



The cost of this house may be from $5,000 to $8,000, depending upon the material of 

 which it is constructed, the degree of finish given to it, and the locality where it is built. 

 All these circumstances are to be considered, and the estimates should be made by practi- 

 cal and experienced builders, who are competent judges in whatever appertains to it. 



CONSTRUCTION OF FRUIT ROOMS— KEEPINa PEARS. 



The time has now arrived when intelligent cultivators are no longer satisfied with a 

 supply of the best fruit during the few weeks when it may be plucked fresh from the tree. 



The best artificial method for prolonging the period of maturity must be ascertained; 

 and when once reached, cannot fail to be sought with great eagerness. For it becomes a 

 matter of no little consequence, whether the cultivator, who has expended a considerable 

 sum to purchase, raise, and carefully cultivate a fine orchard of trees, be permitted to eat 

 the best fruit only during two or three months of" the fruit season," or to feast on melt- 

 ing pears, all through a long winter, and till the fresh trusses of strawberries are redden- 

 ing his garden beds the next summer. This is no chimera — it will be done. 



The old fashioned receipt for keeping winter apples, was " to lock them in a cool cellar 

 and hide the key." But this simple process will not answer for pears. These evaporate 

 moisture much more rapidly than apples, which have a more impervious epidermis. 

 Place an apple in a dry room, and it will continue plump for along time. During the same 

 period, a pear will become badly shrivelled. 



Winter apples are usually suljected to many changes before the time comes round 

 for them to be eaten. They are placed in a dry room, tending to evaporate their mois- 

 ture; there are removed to damp cellars, where moisture is re-absorbed; changes of tem- 

 perature, besides being accompanied alternately with dryness and humidit3% also affect 

 the keeping qualities by the direct action of heat and cold. Tt is not surprising that pears, 

 when subjected to these changes, being much more susceptible than apples, should be 

 found so hard to keep. This is the reason why we so often hear the complaints, " I can't 

 keep winter pears" — or, " they wont ripen with me, thcj^ either wither, or rot. or both" 

 nter pears area humbug!" 

 the best Bartletts and Virgalieus could be taken from the tree five days before their 



