242 iTraiisacHons Illinoh State Horticultural Society. 



for however much starch a green fruit may contain, it is gradually changed during 

 the process of ripening, until not a trace of starch may be left ; for again Liebig 

 says: "The more starch the green fruit contains, the more sugar will be evolved 

 during the process of ripening." 



The same principle was used in the plan not long since promulgated, the invention 

 being to place the fruit in water-tight packages, and fill the interstices with carbonic 

 acid gas, but as a matter of course, the plan did not work except in theory. 



The fruit houses of Mr. Nyce were two-story buildings, the upper chamber con- 

 taining ice, the sides and floor being double, three feet thick and filled in with some 

 nonconductor, so that the fruit room should be practically air-tight. The fruit was 

 placed on shelves or racks, to the depth of two or three feet. I have had tomatoes 

 preserved for three months in the house in Chicago, which came out in perfect 

 condition. The Chicago house, however, did not pay, and it was soon, I believe, 

 abandoned. 



The elements, therefore, of a complete preserving atmosphere are a uniform tem- 

 perature, just above the freezing point, dryness, purity, and the exclusion as far as 

 possible of the great agent of the decomposition — the oxygen of the atmosphere. 

 Whoever can secure these conditions most cheaply will best succeed in keeping apples, 

 pears, and grapes, and with plenty of these fruits out of their natural season, there 

 is a fortune to whomsoever succeeds in its accomplishment. 



I think the best place for keeping fiuits in their natural state is in fruit-houses 

 with double walls, secure at the same time from frost and the constant changes of 

 the atmosphere ; for however cheap dried or canned fruits are in the market, first- 

 class natural fruits will always command a remunerative price. A curious fact in 

 connection with seasons of extreme plenty like the one just passed, is, that being 

 plenty, so much fruit is wasted that a scarcity almost always follows. 



Where the soil is perfectly dry to a sufficient depth, or capable of perfect drain- 

 age a fruit-house may be readily built under a barn or carriage-house, provided no 

 stock is kept in the barn. The walls should be seven feet high, and if three sides 

 are under the ground, the other side may be exposed to the weather if the ventilators 

 and windows are double. 



To prevent frost entering through the upper floor, it will only be necessary to 

 have the beams one foot deep, the floor to be made of common two-inch plank, the 

 ioists or beams to be covered with matched boards for the ceiling ; if the inter-spaces 

 are filled with sawdust, or some material of like nature, frost will not enter. A 

 trap-door should be provided for taking out fruit, or entering the cellar in cold 

 weather" and a chimney also, for ventilation in extreme weather. If the whole 

 cellar is not wanted for fruit, it can be partitioned off and a part used for storing 

 vegetables. If the fruit in a cellar of this description be kept in tight packages, 

 the temperature may run down to twenty-eight degrees for several days together, 

 next the walls, without injury to the fruit, provided the packages are tighC ; and as 

 an index to the temperature, a sufficient number of thermometers should be kept, at 

 top and bottom, to indicate the degree of cold, so that when the frost once gets in 

 the room, means may be taken to obviate it. 



One of the principal reasons of failure in keeping fruit is that care is not taken 



