PRESERVING THE FRUIT. 67 



usually remains there till the ensuing spring, when the young 

 moth again emerges from it. The readiest way of destroying 

 them, when it can be done conveniently, is to allow swine and 

 poultry to run at large in the orchards when the premature fruit 

 is falling ; or otherwise, the fruit may be picked up daily and 

 placed where the worms will be killed. It is said that if an old 

 cloth is placed in the crotch of the tree about the time the fruit 

 begins to drop, the apple worm will make it a retiring place, 

 and thousands may be caught and killed from time to time. 

 As the cocoons are deposited chiefly under the old loose bark, 

 the thorough cultivator will take care, by keeping the trunks of 

 his trees smooth, to afford them little harbour ; and by scraping 

 and washing the trunks early in the spring, to destroy such as 

 may have already taken up their quarters there. 



When the fruit of orchards is much liable to the attacks of 

 this insect we cannot too much insist on the efficacy of small 

 bonfires lighted in the evening, by which myriads of this and all 

 other moths may be destroyed, before they have time to deposit 

 their eggs and cause worm-eaten fruit. 



The Blight which occasionally kills suddenly the ends of the 

 limbs of the apple and the quince, appears to be caused by an 

 insect similar to that which produces the fire blight of the pear, 

 and must be treated in the same way as directed for that tree. 



GATHERING AND KEEPING THE FRTJIT. In order to secure 

 soundness and preservation, it is indispensably necessary that 

 the fruit should be gathered by hand. For winter fruit the 

 gathering is delayed as long as possible, avoiding severe frosts, 

 and the most successful practice with our extensive orchardists 

 is to place the good fruit directly, in a careful manner, in new, 

 tight flour barrels as soon as gathered from the tree. These 

 barrels should be gently shaken while filling, and the head 

 closely pressed in ; they are then placed in a cool shady expo- 

 sure under a shed open to the air, or on the north side of a 

 building, protected by covering of boards over the top, where 

 they remain for a fortnight, or until the cold becomes too severe, 

 when they are carefully transferred to a cool, dry cellar, iu 

 which air can be admitted occasionally in brisk weather. 



A cellar, for this purpose, should be dug in dry, gravelly, or 

 sandy soil, with, if possible, a slope to the north ; or, at any 

 rate, with openings on the north side for the admission of air 

 very rarely in weather not excessively cold. Here the barrels 

 should be placed on tiers on their sides, and the cellar should be 

 kept as dark as possible. In such a cellar, one of the largest 

 apple growers in Dutchess county is able to keep the Greening 

 apple, which, in the fruit room, usually decays in January, until 

 the 1st of April, in the freshest and finest condition. Some per- 

 sons place a layer of clean rye straw between every layer of 

 apples, when packing them in the barrels. 



