Preservation of Fruit after Gaihcriiig. -^yj 



Packing in air-tight vessels, so far from being useful, is rather fatal to 

 long keeping ; I do not even like close drawers or boxes. In barrels, 

 with numerous openings for ventilation, I think pears may keep well, 

 in a cold, dry atmosphere, but I am not sure of it. ^ly objection to 

 packing in barrels is, that it jams and bruises much of the fruit, which 

 will be disfigured and injured b}' this process. No bruised pear will 

 ever ripen satisfactorily. Hence, when pears have been packed in 

 barrels, and carried any distance on railroads, etc., they will probably 

 never keep well aftenvards. 



There is another objection to packing pears in barrels. If, after 

 being packed, they are subjected for a few days to a temperature of 

 seventy -five to eighty-five degrees, they will be so heated that fernien- 

 tatioii will take place in their tissues, and the cells of the fruit will be 

 partially ruptured, while chemical changes will be induced in the 

 juices, which will be fatal to long keeping afterwards. 



The result of my experience in keeping pears may be stated in a 

 very few ^vords. 



I think pears intended to be kept for a long period of time, say six 

 months or more, should be carefully hand picked, when well matured 

 on the tree, and put immediately into a fruit-room at a temperature as 

 nearly down to forty degrees as possible. They should be placed in 

 shallow boxes or on shelves, in such a manner that the air can reach 

 them, and so that they will not be bruised or crushed. The fruit-room 

 should be kept constantly at about forty degrees ; the air should be dry 

 and pure ; but no fresh air should ever be introduced into the apart- 

 ment with a view to ventilation, as such ventilation would introduce 

 fresh supplies of oxygen, the destructive agent of the atmosphere. 



In such a room nearly all perishable fruits will keep for an incredibly 

 long period of time. The most delicate pears, such as Bartlett, nearly 

 tree-ripened, will keep for three or four months, if not longer, while 

 the later pears, with tougher skin, will surely keep for six months, and 

 some of the winter pears, I have no doubt, perfectly sound for a year. 

 In keeping grapes, native or foreign, I believe not so much success has 

 been achieved as in keeping most other fruit, though instances of great 

 success are reported. vSingularly enough, peaches, which are gener- 



