DESCRIPTION AND PLAN OF A FRUIT-ROOM. 113 



The room was not originally constructed for a fruit-room ; 

 but, by a little adaptation, Mr. Moorman has succeeded in ren- 

 dering it a most excellent one, as is proved by the prizes awarded 

 for the productions exhibited from it — not in any one year, but 

 repeatedly, year after year. It is a partitioned-off portion of a 

 loft, which extends over a coach-house and stables, and is that 

 part which is above the coach-house. It was originally fitted 

 up for a harness-room, the walls, as is usual in such places, being 

 lined with wood. The roof is slated. The range of buildin"- is 

 detached, and faces the south-west. 



It will be observed that there is a cavity, c, between the 

 boarding and walls. This, I believe, is an important circum- 

 stance, and so is the wooden lining, because air and wood are 

 known to be slow conductors of heat. The ceiling on the north 

 side is double, and the floor is wood above a ceiling. We may 

 therefore conclude that a uniformity of temperature in the inte- 

 rior of the room is insured to a considerable extent. 



There is the small stove, d, but it is seldom used, and never 

 with the view of warming the air of the room unless the tempe- 

 rature is actually below freezing. The fruit is therefore kept 

 cool. 



The swang-window, e, is occasionally a little opened ; 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 a, have a layer of clean-drawn straw laid across 

 them, and on this the fruit is placed singly. 



From a consideration of all the above details it may be in- 

 ferred 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 tempera- 

 ture, coolness, and darkness. 



If the temperature is uniform, there can be little or no deposi- 

 tion of moisture on the surface of the fruit ; but if the air of the 

 room should be, say ten degrees w^armer than the fruit, then the 

 relative coldness of the latter will cause a condensation of the 

 moisture contained in the air in contact with the fruit, just as a 

 cold glass becomes dew^ed over when brought into a warm atmos- 

 phere. If the air is indeed very dry, then a proportionably 

 greater difference 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 deposi- 



