20 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



about 40° of Fahrenheit is the temperature best suited to hold the 

 ripening process in equilibrium. 



The proper maturing of fruit thus preserved demands skill and 

 science. Different varieties require different degrees of moisture 

 and heat, according to the firnmess of the skin, the texture of the 

 flesh, and the natural activity of the juices. ' Thus, some varieties 

 of the pear will ripen at a low temperature and in a comparatively 

 dry atmosphere, while others, like the Easter Beurre, are improved 

 by a warm and humid air. Some varieties of the pear, ripening 

 with difficulty and formerly esteemed only second rate, are now 

 pronounced of excellent qualit}^ because the art of maturing them 

 is better understood. 



Mr. Wilder said that these remarks, like his own experience, had 

 special reference to the apple and pear, though the principles laid 

 down were doubtless susceptible of more extensive application. 

 Fruits designed to be kept for a considerable time should be 

 gathered with great care some da3's before the ripening process 

 commences, especially simimer pears. A summer pear ripened 

 on the tree is generally inferior. In respect to these, Mr. Barr^-, 

 when editor of the " Horticulturist," so aptly expressed the views 

 of the speaker that he used his language : " The process of ripening 

 on the tree, which is the natural one, seems to act upon the fruit 

 for the benefit of the seed, as it tends to the formation of woody 

 fibre and farina. When the fruit is removed from the tree at the 

 very commencement of ripening, and placed in a still atmosphere, 

 the natural process seems to be counteracted, and sugar and juice 

 are elaborated instead of fibre and farina. Thus, pears which 

 become meal}- and rot at the core, when left on the tree to ripen, 

 become juicy, melting, and delicious, when ripened in the house." 



O. B. Hadwen thought that pears required much skill in ripening, 

 and that but few varieties should be kept in the house at a time. 

 With pears, as with grapes, the best results are obtained b}' those 

 who give special attention to their ripening. The further he went 

 iu pear culture, the more he was convinced that to grow pears 

 profitably not more than three or four varieties should be cultivated. 



Robert Manning spoke of the opinion entertained b}' the late 

 John Gordon, an extensive pear grower, that the color of pears 

 was brought out better when they were covered with woollen cloths 

 than when any other material was used. He had seen similar views 

 expressed in print by others, and was led to suspect that the wool- 



