GATHERING AND PKESEKVATION OP FRUITS. 



" 3. That the Fruit-Room he deprived of the action of the lir/ht. This agent also 

 accelerates maturation in facilitating tlie cliemical reactions wliicli produce this phe- 

 nomenon. 



"4. That all the carbonic acid disengaged from the fruits he retained in its atmos- 

 phere. This gas, it appears from experiments of Couverchel, contributes powerfully 

 to the preservation of fruits. 



" 5. That the atmosphere he more dry than humid. Humidity is also a condition 

 necessary to fermentation; it diminishes the resistence of tissue in the fruits, and 

 favors the effusion of its juices. It is, then, proper to avoid its accumulation in the 

 fruit-room ; but it must never be completely dry, for the fruits losing then, by evap- 

 oration, a considerable quantity of the aqueous fluids, -wither, dry up, and do not 

 ripen. 



" 6. That the fruits are so placed as to di?ninish as far as j^ossihle the 2^}'ess2ire 

 ivhich thvj exercise upon each other. This continued pressure determines the rupture 

 of the vessels and cells toward the point of pressure, the different fluids are mingled, 

 and this mixture promotes the chemical combinations which result in maturity. 



" We propose to construct a fruit-room to fulfil these conditions, in the following 

 manner : 



" We would choose a very dry soil, somewhat elevated, fxclng the north, and com- 

 pletely shaded from the sun by high plantations of evergreen trees. The dimensions 

 are to be determined by the quantity of fruit to be preserved. That of which we 

 give the plan (fig. 2) is 15 feet long in the inside, 12 feet wide, and 9 feet high. 

 This will give place to 8,000 fruits, allowing each one to occupy 4 inches square. It 

 is sunk 2|- feet in the ground ; and if the soil is very dry, it may be 3 feet. This 

 enables us the more easily to guard the atmosphere against the external temperature. 

 To prevent surface water from accumulating in the surrounding soil and filtering into 

 the fruit-room, the surface of the ground should descend from the walls, and these 

 should be constructed of cement a foot above the soil. 



" This fruit-room is inclosed by two 

 walls, (A and B,) leaving between them 

 an open space (G) about 10 inches wide. 

 This stratum of air interposed between 

 the two walls is the surest means of 

 protecting the interior from the exterior 

 temperature. The two walls are each 

 12 inches thick, constructed with a sort 

 of mortar, or mud, made of clay and 

 straw. This material is cheap, and on 

 the whole a bad conductor of heat, and 

 on this account preferable to common 

 masonry. The walls are pierced with riy. 'i. 



openings — three in the inside and three in the outside walls — the first similar 

 xactly opposite to the last. The openings for the outside wall are — 



