204 



THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



preserver. Excluding light contributes greatly to the 'sound preservation and good 

 appearance of fruit. 



Great fluctuations in temperature are highly inimical to stored fruit. Warm air 

 brought into contact with colder fruit causes moisture to be deposited on its surface, 

 which it injuriously affects ; and when the atmosphere is colder than the fruit this loses 

 heat and moisture, consequently shrivels. In cold, frosty weather fruit is dry, but on 

 a return of warm weather the skin becomes clogged with moisture. Too moist 

 surroundings impart a musty flavour ; too dry conditions extract the juices. Fire-dried 

 air abstracts the virtues from fruit and it becomes wrinkled and dry. Frost ruptures 

 the cells of fruit, and hurries it into incipient decomposition. 



Fruit Rooms. From the foregoing it may occur to many that they possess a place 

 or room which, by a little alteration or addition, might be converted into an eligible fruit 

 store. Such, indeed, is often the case ; yet a well-appointed fruit room is indispensable 

 to a well-equipped establishment, not only to insure the satisfactory keeping of 

 fruit, but to enable the proprietor, with his friends, to enjoy a walk round, and 

 examine the different sorts. Particulars, therefore, for erecting a suitable structure 

 are imperative. 



The site should be dry, airy, and slightly elevated ; the subsoil dry, or rendered 

 so by efficient drainage. An eastern or northern aspect is most advantageous, inasmuch 

 as the room must be used for retarding the ripening of fruit in summer, equally with 

 preserving it in winter. The site, however, must be open. Tall, deciduous trees 

 thinly disposed on the east, south, and west sides, near enough to shade from hot 

 summer sun, yet not so close as to overhang the room, having their lower branches 

 clear of the ground, practically secures a cool, dry air, for beneath trees so distanced 

 there is always a " draw " of air. Avoid low, sheltered situations, closely hemmed in 

 by trees and dense undergrowth, or a too moist atmosphere will be induced. 



To insure a cool temperature, let the floor line be above rather than below the 

 ground level. This is essential to secure a circulation of air below a wood floor 

 through air bricks in the side walls ; and a concrete or tile floor must be isolated as 

 much 8.8 possible from the damp and heat of the earth. To effect this an air cavity, 

 4J inches wide, should be formed outside the walls, from the foundation to the damp- 

 course, taking out the whole of the interior to a depth of 15 inches, laying 3-inch 

 drain tiles, extending through the walls into the air cavity, lengthwise and crosswise 

 of the building, 1J foot from the outside and 3 feet apart, letting them into the 



