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1 



GATnEKINO AND PBESEBVATION OF FEDIT8. 



" The grape-growers of Tliomery, who 

 preserve a large quantity of grapes, con- 

 tent themselves with placing bunches on 

 wire frames, on which they probably 

 spread a thin layer of very dry fern. 



" When all the fruits are thus arranged 

 in the fruit-room, the doors and windows 

 are left open during the day, unless in 

 wet weather. Eight days exposure to the 

 Fig. 6. air in this way will be necessary to de- 



prive the fruits of their surplus moisture. After that, a dry and cold time is chosen 

 to close hermetically all the openings. The doors must be opened no more, except 

 when necessary to enter. 



" Until the present time we have employed no other means to remove moisture 

 fi-om the fruit-room but by creating in the interior, currents of air more or less intense. 

 This mode is attended with serious inconveniences for the preservation of fruit. In 

 the first place it produces an equilibrium of temperature between the atmosphere of 

 the fruit-room and the exterior, and this change is very injurious to the fruits. In 

 the second place a glare of light is instantly admitted to the fruits, and this is no less 

 injurious than the change of temperature. In fine, this vicious method should not be 

 practiced unless the exterior temperature is not below the freezing point and the 

 weather is dry. In the winter, however, the Aveather is generally the reverse of this, 

 and the fruits have to be abandoned to a destructive moisture. 



" To escape this difficulty, we advise the use of chloride of calcium. This has the 

 property of absorbing so great a quantity of moisture, (about double its own weight,) 

 that it becomes liquified after being exposed for a certain time to a moist atmosphere. 

 Fresh lime has the same property of absorbing moisture, but at the same time it 

 absorbs the carbonic acid set free by the fruits, and it is important to save this gas, as 

 it aids materially in preserving them. 



"To employ the chloride of calcium, a sort of wooden box should be constructed, 



(A, fig. 7,) lined with lead, (F,) about 18 inches wide and 4 inches deep. It is raised 



P abont 18 inches from the floor, on a small table 



(B) having one of its sides (C) about 1^ inches 



lower than the other. At the middle of the 



lowest side of the box a small mouth is fixed for 



the liquified chloride to run over into a stone 



jar (E) placed below it. The chloride is spread 



in the box in small porous particles, very dry, 



and about 3 inches thick ; and if the quantity 



employed be entirely liquified before the fruit is 



consumed, a fresh supply may be added. About 



fifty pounds applied at three times is sufficient 



fruit-room such as the one described above. The liquid which results from this 



Fig. 7. 



