CH. YII.] THE FRUIT AND SEED. 239 



qiiite matiu'e, for the ripening process, the formation 

 of sugar, with its attendant exhalation of carbonic 

 acid and water, goes on as well in the fruit-room as in 

 the open air, at the season when the functions of the 

 leaves have ceased, and the fmit no longer enlarges. 

 In gathering fruit every care should be adopted to 

 avoid bruising, and to this end, in the case of apples, 

 pears, quinces, and medlars, let the gatheiing basket 

 be lined throughout -with sacldng, and let the con- 

 tents of each basket be carried at once to a floor 

 covered with sand, and taken out one by one, not 

 poured out, as is too usual, into a larger basket, and 

 then again from this into a heap ; for this systematic 

 mode of inflicting small bruises, is sure to usher in 

 decay, inasmuch as that it bursts the di^dsional 

 membranes of the cells containing the juice, and 

 this being extravasated speedily passes from the 

 stage of spirituous feimentation to that of putrefac- 

 tion. To avoid this is the principal object of fruit 

 stoiing, whilst, at the same time, it is necessary that 

 the fruit shall be kept firm and juicy. 



Now it so happens that the means required to 

 seciu'e the one also effects the other. To presence 

 the juiciness of the fruit, nothing more is required 

 than a low temperature and the exclusion of the 

 atmospheric air. The best practical mode of doing 

 this, is to pack the fniit in boxes of perfectly dried 

 pit-sand, employing boxes or bins, and taking care 



