GATHERING AND MANAGEMENT OF APPLES. 



289 



Fig. 117. 



openings at the sides sufficient to admit a cool current of 

 air both night and day. A building prepared like a tobac- 

 co-drying-house would be an excellent place for seasoning 

 winter apples. Most cellars are quite too close and damp 

 for winter apples until after the weather has become cold 

 and freezing. 



Apple-shelves in Dry Cellars. When apples are kept in 

 a cellar, one of the most satisfactory ways to keep apples is 

 to make rows of shelves, or open bins, similar to Fig. 117, 

 one above the 

 other, with al- 

 leys between the 

 rows, say three 

 feet apart. Studs 

 should be set up, 

 to which nar- 

 row strips, three 

 inches wide by 



One inch thick, Convenient apple-shelves. 



should be nailed. The lower shelf, or bin, should be at least 

 six inches above the bottom of the cellar. The next about 

 twenty inches above the first; and so on up to the joists. 

 A person can walk on every side of such fruit-shelves, and 

 can easily reach to the middle from either side. If rats and 

 mice should gain access to such an apartment, they would 

 find no refuge beneath bins beyond the reach of a cat. But 

 a fruit-apartment should be made so tight that rats and 

 mice can not enter, except through a door or windows. If 

 they can avail themselves of no refuge, they will make a 

 short stay in a cellar that is walled up so firmly that they 

 can not find a hiding-place. Apples may be placed on 

 each shelf, until the fruit is a foot or more deep. But 

 it should be avoided, if possible, as it is in most cases un- 

 safe ; and with some varieties having thin, delicate skins, 



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