GATHERINO AND PRESERVATION OP FRmTS. 



"1. A double door (D) : tlio outside door opens out ; tliat of the interior inward, 

 and it opens in two parts like a shutter. "When the frosts arc severe, the space 

 between the two doors should be filled with straw. 



" 2. Two windows, (E,) about 20 inches square, placed on each side and opening at 

 18 inches from the soil, and closed by a double sash, of which the one opens out and 

 the other in. The space between the two sashes should also be carefully filled •with 

 straw at the commencement of winter. 



" The inside wall has a door (F) and two windows (C) ; but here the door is 

 simi)le ; the windows are also closed with two sashes, the outside one sliding in a 

 groove and the other opening out. 



"As soon as the fruits are collected in the fruit-room, the joints and openings 

 around the windows should be filled with paper, to prevent the air from the space 

 between the walls entering the fruit-room. The four windows are only intended to 

 admit air and light necessary to dry and ventilate the fruit-room before gathering in 

 the fruit. "\Vc shall presently see that it is easy to get rid of the interior humidity 

 produced by the j^resence of fruits, without employing currents of air. 



"The ceiling, sustained by beams, is composed of a layer of moss sustained by laths, 

 and covered above and below with a layer of plaster ; the whole being one foot thick. 

 This mode of construction is necessary to exclude the influence of the exterior tem- 

 perature. 



"The roof is thatched a foot thick with straw, and the dormer may be used for 

 storing fodder in ; but the points of uuion between the dormer and outer wall must 

 be perfectly close. 



" The floor is of oak. The walls, and even the ceiling, should have a covering of 

 boards. These precautions serve to maintain an equal temperature, to exclude exte- 

 rior moisture, and to completely separate the atmosphere of the fruit-room from that 

 without. 



"All the interior walls, from within 18 inches of the floor to the ceiling, are fur- 

 nished with board shelves, 2 feet wide, placed 10 inches apart. To facilitate the 



arrangement of the fruit, the upper shelves (A, fig. 3,) 

 are made to slope downwards in front at an angle 

 of 45 deg. ; and this decreases as they come down, 

 until the lower ones within four or five feet of the 

 floor are horizontal. 



" The tables or shelves are all made of narrow 

 strips about 4 inches wide ; and to f;\cilitate the 

 circulation of air, about an inch of space is left 

 between each strip. The shelves are fixed to the 

 wall by brackets sustained in front by upright posts 

 (D) placed 4^ feet from each other. The cross- 

 pieces (E) attached to the uprights, support horizontal laths (F) or oblique ones (G). 

 "In the center of the fruit-room we reserve a table (I, fig. 2,) 6 feet long and 2^ 

 feet wide, separated from the shelves by a space of 3 feet. This table serves to receive 



B 



