4'JO GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



with dressers all round and dravers underneath. Over these dressers the 

 side- walls may be filled with shelves of any convenient width, about nine 

 inches or a foot apart from each other, accordinjj to the width of the shelves. 

 These shelves must, in the same way as the dresser, be fitted with a ledge one 

 or two inches deep to prevent the fruit rolling off; and in severe frosty wea- 

 ther the apples and pears on the shelves may be covered with fern-leaves, as 

 recommended in No. 1478. ^' 



1503. To the judicious remarks of our correspondent D. it may not be out 

 of place if we add the following directions, chiefly taken from M. Du Breuil, 

 who also tells us, after examining the various expedients for gathering the 

 fruit, that, wherever practicable, it is best gathered by the hand, but without 

 any pressure ; all other processes damaging the fruit, and that it is best to 

 adhere, even for the loftier branches, to the ladder. 



1504. As the fruit is detached, it should be disposed in a large basket, not 

 very deep, at the bottom of which a layer of soft moss, or dry leaves, is laid ; 

 and not more than three layers of fi-uit should occupy the same basket, each 

 laver being separated by a bed of leaves, and the basket, when full, placed 

 under cover. The dangers to be guarded against, and object to be gained,, 

 are, for the first — 



1. Protection from frost, which leads immediately to decay. For the 



second — 



2. Matured ripening, which is to be effected so slowly, that some sorts 



shall only be in perfection by the month of May. 



1505. The success of this process depends, in some degree, on the kind of 

 fruit-house in which the maturing process is carried on ; and a perfect 

 fruiterv, according to M. Du Breuil, should have— 



"]. A temperature always equal, of from 8° to 10° of Reaumur, or 40^ 

 to 42° Fahrenheit, and dry rather than moist. 



2. Complete seclusion from light. 



3. No communication with the external atmosphere. 



4. A disposition of the fruit which shall avoid contact will, each other, 



or, at least, prevent pressure. 



5. A northern aspect, with a perfectly dry foundation. 



1506. The house M. Du Breuil recommends, varying in size according to the 

 fruit to be stored, presents an inside length of 16 feet by 13 feet, and 16 feet in 

 height. This house, he tells us, will contain 8,000 apples or pears : the flo®r 

 is raised 30 inches above the soil when it is very dry; where the subsoil is 

 moist, it should be nine or ten inches higher. This disposition renders the 

 exclusion of moisture more simple : to this must be added thorough drainage, 

 with a slope to the drains all round. 



1507. The fruitery is surrounded by two walls, leaving between them a 

 space of 20 inches or thereabouts, as represented in the section of the room 

 at the head of this chapter. This bed of air interposed between the two 

 •walls intercepts the external air. The two walls, each about 15 inches thick, 

 ai-e constructed in frame, of a sort of mortar made of a mixture of argillaceous 



