GATHERING AJS'D PRESEEVATION OF FRUITS. 



but it is at all times covered with a roller-blind, so that the fruit is kept in the dark 

 A little fire in the stove, air being freely admitted by the window at the same time in 

 a dry day, is useful for speedily removing any damp which may arise from the fruit. 

 The shelves (a «) have a layer of clean-drawn straw laid across them; on this the 

 fruits are placed singly. 



" From a consideration of all the above details, it may be inferred that if a fruit- 

 room be built over a place where there is a free circulation of air, its roof double 

 ceiled, the walls lined with wood, a cavity being left between these two, it will possess 

 the essential properties of the one under consideration. 



" The more important principles necessary to attend to, with regard to the long- 

 keeping of fruit, are uniformity of temperature, coolness, and darkness. If the tem- 

 perature is uniform, there can be little or no deposition of moisture on the surface of 

 the fruit ; but if the air of the room should be say ten degrees warmer than the fruit, 

 then the relative coldness of the latter will cause a condensation of the moisture con- 

 tained in the air in contact with the fruit, just as a cold glass becomes dewed over 

 when brought into a warm atmosphere. If the air is indeed very dry, then a propor- 

 tionately greater diflference of temperature is necessary to produce the above effect ; 

 but in winter the hygrometer seldom requires to be cooled more than a few degrees 

 before it indicates a deposition of moisture. Fruits with smooth, glossy skins, in close 

 contact with the cold substance beneath them, are those most profusely covered with 

 moisture from the above cause. In russeted varieties, their dry, rough coats serve as 

 non-conductors of heat, and hence less moisture is deposited on them. When the air 

 becomes colder than the fruit, a contrary action — that of evaporation — takes place, 

 and the surface of the fruit becomes dry. But this wetting and drying must prove 

 very injurious, while its cause — alternations of temperature — must likewise affect the 

 specific gravity of the juices of the fruit. Mr. Moorman's fruit is not exposed to such 

 vicissitudes ; for when the weather becomes frosty, it is several days before the ther- 

 mometer in his fruit-room is affected as much as one degree. 



" It may be remarked that in giving air, a period of the day should be chosen when 

 the thermometer outside indicates the same temperature as that in the room. No 

 deposition of moisture can then take place in consequence. 



" With regard to coolness, it is well known that this condition is favorable to the 

 long-keeping of fruit ; for we act on the contrary when we wish to render any variety 

 fit for use before its usual time. The fruit-room in question must be cooler on an 

 average than if it had been on the ground ; for the latter, under a building particu- 

 larly, is much warmer than the air in winter. 



" Light accelerates the maturity and ultimate decay of fruit exposed to its influence. 

 If the soundest specimens are picked and placed opposite a window, they soon become 

 much inferior in appearance, compared with those from which the light is excluded, 

 all other circumstances being the same. In Mr. Moorman's fruit-room the light is 

 excluded by a blind, even when air is given. 



By such arrangements as those above detailed, Mr. Moorman keeps the Marie 

 se in fine condition till after Christmas. He possesses a selection of the best 



