90 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Preserving Fruits. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — I understund that Messrs. Taylor, Croxon 

 & Co., Trenton, N. J., have erected one of Prof. Nyce's Fruit Pre- 

 servins; Houses, capable of holding eight thousand bushels of fruit. 



Prof. J. C. Booth, Philadelphia, speaking of this method of pre- 

 scrvinf^ fruit, says : "The mode of construction and the simple 

 materials used, appear to me to attain all the objects required, as 

 far as we know them, in the most perfect manner. The question 

 of -economy is easily settled hy the moderate cost of construction, 

 and the extreme cheapness of ice and the chlorides. The dryness 

 of the compartments, secured by the use of chlorides of calcium 

 and mairuesium, obtained at a trifling cost from the waste bittern 

 of salt works, seems to be as perfect as desirable, and its degree 

 is ingeniously measured by a l^alance weight of the same salts, 

 visible through glass from the hall, in each compartment. The 

 necessary cold (thirty-four deg. Fahrenheit), is of course main- 

 tained by the complete covering of the ice above, which, being 

 charo:ed in one winter, lasts until the next, with a surplus to spare. 

 Such coldness, dryness, and an exclusion of light and air, must 

 certainly tenYl to preserve the fruit as perfectly as any mode that 

 can be devised. 



Prof. Silliman says : ''I cannot see what remains to be desired 

 in the perfectness of your plan. Every considerable city should 

 have such a fruit house in its neighborhood, as a means of health 

 and enjoyment to thousands, who would thus be provided with 

 delicious and healthful fruit." 



Parties in this vicinity may find it profitable as well as conven- 

 ient to visit this fruit preservatory at Trenton. It is a shame that 

 we have not a dozen like it in New York. 



Concrete Houses. 

 Mr. Charles Williams, Vineland, N. J., exhibited an improve- 

 ment in the construction of concrete houses, which is about being 

 patented. It consists in putting up first a wooden frame, of stuti' 

 one inch by two inches, and building the concrete about this in 

 the usual manner. The frame prevents danger of crushing or 

 crackino-; poorer materials can be used in the wall, and the wall 

 can be much thinner than in the old wa}-. In answer to ques- 

 tions, he gave the l)est formula for concrete mortar, as sand and 

 gravel, with 1-10 to 1-9 lime. It is not best to make it into brick 

 first, as such walls are more likely to crack. 



