J 14 DESCRIPTION AND PLAN OF A FKUIT-ROOM. 



tion of moisture. Fruits with smooth, glossy skins, in close 

 contact with the cold substance beneath them, are tiiose most 

 profusely covered with moisture from the above cause. In rus- 

 seted varieties their di-y, 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 ; 

 whilst its cause, alternations of temperature, must likewise 

 affect the specific gravity of the juices of the fruit. Mr. Moor- 

 man's fruit is not exposed to such vicissitudes ; for when the 

 weather becomes frosty, it is several days before the thermometer 

 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 mois- 

 ture can then take place in consequence. 



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

 favourable to the long-keeping of fruit ; for we act on the con- 

 trary when we wish to render any variety fit for use before its 

 nsual time. The fruit-room in question must be cooler on an 

 average than if it had been on the ground ; for tlie latter, under 

 a building particularly, 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 ex- 

 cluded, all other circumstances being the same. In Mr. Moor- 

 man'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 Louise in fine condition till after Christmas. 

 He possesses a selection of the best varieties of pears, which he 

 grows chiefly on espaliers, which are well managed by his gar- 

 dener, Mr. Tucker, in the Clapham-road. He had some re- 

 markably handsome specimens of the Winter Nelis in his fruit- 

 room in January, much larger than that excellent variety 

 usually grows. We have also seen very large specimens of the 

 Marie Louise, grown at his seat at Box Hill, in Sussex. The 

 tree which produced them is trained against the gable end of a 

 barn, about a quarter of a mile from the sea, and this tree is 

 exposed to the strong sea-breezes from the south-west. It was 

 planted in good soil, and a spring below it was discovered when 

 digging the hole for the compost previous to the tree being 

 planted. 



