August 9, 1913 



HOKTICULTURE 



167 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



i>^r\^ 



Questions by our readers in line with any of tbe topics presented on tills page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Penson. Sucli communications should invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Froit Rooms 



Through the recent hot weather the great advantage 

 of possessing a good fruit room will have been very ap- 

 parent. ISTot only greenhouse-grown fruit but all fruit 

 will keep longer if the conditions are made right for it. 

 and no place has the equal of a properly constructed 

 fruit room. What satisfaction there is in knowing the 

 fruit is good to keep for several days after gathering ! 

 Or it may be some of the fruit from the houses has to be 

 cut and is good to keep here for quite a while. Many 

 we know resort to the ice box but our experience has 

 taught us that an extended stay on the ice causes fruit 

 to lose its flavor and a second (perhaps greater) detri- 

 ment is that they are more easily bruised. You will also 

 notice how a melon, for instance, will sweat after being 

 removed from the ice box to a warmer room. Compar- 

 ing an ice box to a fruitroom we iind a great difEerence 

 in the atmosphere. Both are cool yet the one is a dry 

 air while the other is very wet. One of the chief aims 

 when building a fruit room should be to make provision 

 for keeping the room moderately dry through the damp 

 weather. . I say moderately dry because this dryness can 

 be overdone and the fruit will shrivel instead of keeping 

 good and firm. A single line of hot water pipes placed 

 near the bottom of the outside walls will keep the room 

 dry enough. Hot water is preferable to steam heat as 

 it is not so erratic and will stand even for a considerable 

 length of time. The building itself offers a great variety 

 of architectural possibilities when building, from the 

 plainest looking building to something very fancy and 

 ornamental. Whatever form it takes do not sacrifice 

 any of the essential points inside to gain in appearance 

 on the outside. The walls should be thick enough or — 

 better still — contain an air chamber to nullify the quick 

 changes of outside temperattires. The roof should be 

 made of material that does not attract the sun. In some 

 instances water towers have been built over them and 

 the whole thing made to look very good. In Scotland 

 many use a thatch of heather and some places in Eng- 

 land still possess the straw-thatched fruit rooms. The 



interior offers just as large a scope for fitting up as the 

 exterior does in building, from glazed brick walls, enam- 

 eled fittings and glass shelves down to the roughest shelv- 

 ing. A good layout of such a room would be to erect 

 shelves not more than 3 ft., 6 in. wide around the sides 

 having a 2 ft. 6 in. elevation. This will make it easy 

 to look over the fruit that is stored for any length of 

 time, detecting any that may be going wrong. These 

 shelves would store apples and pears well. If grapes 

 have to be kept as late as possible make provisions for 

 the bottles to be hung on a properly constructed rack in 

 the center of the room, utilizing the remaining space 

 for shelving as on the sides. Have a packing table 

 plenty large enough to accommodate the amount of fruit 

 to be handled, with packing material near at hand. Do 

 not cut the walks down to a minimtim or you will re- 

 peatedly regret it, as baskets, trays, etc., will always 

 seem to be in the way, getting tipset or otherwise dam- 

 aged. Careful handling of all fruit is the keynote to 

 good keeping. Xo matter what the reputation of any 

 variety for keeping, if it is handled roughly it will soon 

 start to decay and be a menace to any fruit near it. 



Mildew 



With th^ cooler evenings now coming on we shall soon 

 see signs of mildew, especially in vineries that have 

 finished and are standing wide open. As I have re- 

 marked before some districts are more susceptible to this 

 trouble than others and lucky are those that do not know 

 of its existence. Although there is nothing to be feared 

 as there would be in the spring do not let it run ahead 

 just as it .pleases. Young vineries growing up for the 

 first year will be liable to get it as the air is steadily 

 increased on them. Use sulphur in the same form as 

 during the trying spring months, either by blowing it 

 on to the affected parts with bellows, using any of the 

 various fumigaters on the market, or if there is steam in 

 the house, turn it on for an hour and paint a little at 

 intervals on the pipe. An hour will be long enough to 

 keep the house shut up and will kill all the spores. 



than staying at home and doing it, for then you at 

 least have a peaceful mind. 



The Pots 



Now that all the planting is done get right after the 

 pots. It may be too hot to work in the houses but it is 

 not too hot to wash pot~. Places where all pots are 

 washed by machinery will generally make a quick job of 

 it, and it is a wonder that more places do not have such 

 things as the electric motor to run all the different 

 machines that are operated by hand. It is surprising 



Ikiw much labor can thus be saved, which can be directed 

 in another way and bring double the results. Be sure 

 to sort out all the different sized pots and now is the 

 time to do it. A most important part of the pots oft«n 

 left unwashed is a ring right around the top where the 

 surface of the soil would be when a plant is potted. This 

 little ring of green is very good seed indeed, and will 

 quickly spread all over the pot if allowed to remain. 

 Therefore be careful to have the pot perfectly clean «n 

 the inside at least, although the cleaner they are the 

 better. First prize stock is seldom grown in dirty gre«m 

 pots that have never been washed. 



