GATHERING AND STORING FRUIT 



43 



can be done in this way in preserving apples, by their 

 wonderful exhibit of perfectly preserved fruits in great 

 variety on several occasions at the Temple Show towards 

 the end of May. Messrs Veitch and Bunyard have built 

 their cool fruit rooms above ground, and encased them 

 with a thick covering of heather. In the Royal Gardens, 

 Windsor, we had a cool fruit room built underneath our 

 pear room, and it has answered admirably. The tem- 

 perature never falls below forty degrees in the coldest, 

 and seldom rises above sixty degrees in the hottest 

 weather, thus securing such an equable temperature 

 and freedom from evaporation as would be impossible in 

 an ordinary fruit room." 



We see then that the ideal surroundings for keeping 

 apples sound and in good condition throughout the 

 winter months may thus be summarised : An equable 

 temperature of from forty degrees to forty-five degrees 

 Fahrenheit, and an atmosphere that is moist. Therefore, 

 any room or building that is so adapted as to be able to 

 fulfil these conditions may be successfully made use of 

 for the storage of apples. Until the underground fruit 

 room was built in the Royal Gardens, we stored 

 practically the whole of our apples in a large lean-to 

 wooden structure, with a thatched and slated roof. 

 This was built against a wall and faced due east. For 

 the perfect preservation of pears, which are certainly 

 more delicate than are apples, the underground room 

 has proved of advantage, for it is evident that in 

 such a place the temperature will not be liable to 

 fluctuate nearly to the same extent as it would in a 

 building completely exposed to external atmospheric 

 influences. 



It may, however, be safely stated, without fear of 

 contradiction, that an underground fruit room is not 

 necessary for the successful preservation of apples 

 throughout the winter, however desirable it may be for 



