456 THE FARMER'S AND 



other on racks or stands. There should be the means of 

 warming the room in very cold frosty weather. 



Some kinds of apples and pears are gathered before they 

 are quite ripe, and the ripening is completed after they 

 are gathered ; this is termed the maturation of the fruit, 

 and it appears to be a curious and interesting natural pro. 

 cess. This subject has been well exanined by M. Cou- 

 verchel in a paper inserted in the "Annales de Chimie." 

 He conceived that the acid and mucilaginous matters of 

 fruit nearly ripe, are converted into sugar by a process 

 which is perhaps chemical, and which has been called the 

 saccharine fermentation. Had such fruit remained on 

 the tree until it was quite ripe, this fermentation would 

 soon have passed into the putrefactive stage, and then the 

 fruit could not be preserved without extraordinary means, 

 such as extreme cold, sugar, etc. 



In general, the apples and pears of autumn should be 

 gathered eight days before they are ripe, and matured in 

 this way. In fact, there are some fruits that are never 

 fit for eating, except they are treated in this manner. The 

 principle of life remains in vegetables very differently 

 from what it does in animals ; for a branch cut from a 

 tree does not die immediately, but will grow, on being 

 planted^ into a new tree. Flowers that have been cut off 

 when only buds, blow on being placed in water ; and 

 the head of a carrot, cut off a little below the top of the 

 root, if placed in a shallow basin of water, will put out 

 leaves, and become a handsome ornament. Mr. Knixrht 

 is of opinion, that in the case of the maturation of fruit, it 

 still continues to be in a living state, though taken from 

 the tree, and that the saccharine matter is formed in the 

 same manner as it would if growing. Pears kept for 

 maturation may be packed carefully with dry moss, bran, 

 or sand dried in an oven, in baskets lined with stout pa- 

 per. They will keep in this way through the winter. 



