THE FLORAL WORLD klUD GARDEN GUIDE. 293 



I sliali not, in this communication, enter into the whole question 

 of storino; the crops of fruit intended for consumption during the 

 winter, for I am afraid it would take up more space than cau be 

 well spared ; but I would observe, in passifl^, that few middle-class 

 gardens have a fruit-room properly constructed, and sufficieatlj 

 spacious for the storage of the fruits above mentioned, when, as is 

 the case this year, the crops are heavy. In some large gardens, 

 too, the accommodation is lamentably deficient, and 1 am afraid 

 that, as a rule, those most directly interested steadily set their faces 

 against any outlay being incurred in providing proper accommoda- 

 tion for the fruit after it is gathered from the trees. It ought to 

 require no very strong arguments to convince any one that, if the 

 fruit is worth growing, it is also worth storing, and that the expense 

 of a nicely-fitted fruit-room is quite as legitimate as other expenses 

 incidental to the management of the trees. A costly structure is 

 not at all requisite. In fact, it is simply necessary that the interior 

 should be perfectly dry, not specially liable to be aff"ected by the 

 fluctuations of temperature outside, and that it is fitted up with 

 shelves upon which to fjlace the fruit. It matters not whether the 

 room forms part of the dwelling-house, or whether it is independent 

 of other buildings. I shall, therefore, say nothing about the selec- 

 tion of a site ; and I think it may be said with safety, that some 

 writers dwell so much upon this point, that they frighten amateurs 

 into the belief that they have no position in their garden suitable 

 for the erection of a fruit-room. In very many instances a room 

 indoors may be turned to good account for storing fruit ; and I will 

 at once proceed to explain how it may be fitted up to hold immense 

 quantities in proportion to its size, and in a manner altogether new. 



The usual plan of fitting up fruit-rooms, now general, with 

 fixed shelves, is in many respects faulty ; and if I was not able to 

 describe something very much bttter, 1 should not have considered 

 myself justified in saying anything about the matter. "When the 

 shelves are fixed, the fruit must of necessity be handled several 

 times before it is placed where it is intended to remain until attain- 

 ing maturity, they do not hold more than one-half the quantity they 

 should do, according to the space occupied ; and, moreover, the 

 fruit is difiicult of examination during the winter. After some little 

 consideration, I have succeeded iu devising a plan of fitting up the 

 fruit-room which, during the last three or four years, has been found 

 eminently satisfactory. Instead of fixed shelves two feet or so 

 apart, we have moveable ones, that are placed so close, one above 

 the other, that an immense quantity of fruit, although only placed 

 iQ single layers, can be stored in a medium-sized room. Any 

 ordinary room may be fitted up in the manner I am about to 

 describe ; and, in confirmation of this assertion, I will mention the 

 fact, that the room in which the fruit crops at Redlees are stored 

 was erected for a purpose totally diS'erent to that to which it is 

 now put. 



To make the description as clear as possible, I will first of all 

 say, that the shelves are in reality shallow trays, which can be taken 

 out of the rests, and removed about anywhere. These trays are 



Oetober, 



