The Canadian Horticulturist. 305 



even cheaper than the one I have described, and it would pay for itself almost 

 the first season. After excavating the cellar and building the wall as before, 

 set up a row of posts along the centre the long way of the cellar, high enough 

 when a ridge pole is put on to support the upper ends of the rafters. Cover 

 the rafters with rough boards as for roofing, and then cover with dirt, well 

 packed down and thick enough to turn the water and keep out the frost. The 

 timbers should be of good size, sufficient to sustain the weight of the roof. 



A fruit house entirely above the ground can be put up at not a very large 

 cost, in which an even temperature can be maintained and which will keep out 

 the frost, as follows : Prepare a good tight foundation of stone for the building. 

 Use 2*x 4 inch studding for the sides. The sides should be about eight feet 

 high. Sheath on the outside of the studding with inch lumber, and cover this 

 with another course of studding, sheathing and building paper. Do this until 

 the wall has three air spaces. The roof is constructed in the same way to pro- 

 tect from heat as well as frost. 



The writer has recently constructed a cellar and fruit house over it, as 

 follows : The floor between the cellar and fruit room above is laid with 2x8 

 joists, ceiled above and below with inch boards, and the space between it is 

 filled with sawdust. The studding for the sides are 2x6, eight feet high. Out- 

 side it is sheathed lengthwise with inch lumber, and on this is a layer of build- 

 ing paper. Then comes a course of inch pine siding and battened. On the 

 inside a layer of building paper is tacked to the studding and then a course of 

 inch lumber. The six-inch space between the two courses of sheathing is filled 

 with sawdust well packed. Building paper is tacked to the under side of the 

 rafters, and an inch pine ceiling is put on, and the four-inch space between the 

 roof boards and ceiling is filled in with sawdust. It is ventilated with windows 

 at each end. 



The main points to be kept in view, when planning a storage place for our 

 apples, are good drainage, good ventilation and security from heat and cold. 

 Here in this climate we are very apt to have, in the late fall, and also during the 

 winter months, warm spells of weather, and during these warm spells the ventila- 

 tors should be opened at night after the atmosphere has become cool, and kept 

 closed during the daytime. In this way nearly an even temperature can be 

 maintained, not so low, perhaps, as in a costly cold storage plant, but sufficiently 

 low to meet the requirements of the average grower. — From a paper by J- M. 

 Purdy, read before the Minnesota Horticultural Society. 



Pears. — The crop is ready to pick as soon as the color begins to change 

 and the stem will part readily from the branch. The ripening process should 

 then be continued indoors in a still, dark room, which must be cool for slow 

 ripening and warm for quick ripening. For marketing especially fine fruit, use 

 small packages. Bartletts may be picked while hardly more than half grown. 

 They will ripen up for market, and sometimes bring a much better price than 

 the later, fully-developed and matured pears, while those left on the tree will 

 come out all the finer, and perhaps continue later in good condition. 

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