PACKING, MARKING, SHIPPING, ETC. 447 



A cheap and effective fruit-house has long been a desid- 

 eratum, and many patents have been obtained. The ma- 

 jority of them, however, have proved failures, and often- 

 times expensive ones. The best house we have seen is 

 that of Rees & Houghton, Philadelphia, Pa., from whose 

 circular we extract the following : 



"When the purity of the atmosphere is obtained by 

 excessive ventilation, not only is the temperature of the 

 apartment increased, but the ice is melted with great 

 rapidity. To dry the atmosphere by the use of absorb- 

 ents is also a very expensive and troublesome process. 



" In a room cooled to 38 Fahrenheit, and kept perfect- 

 ly dry, the decomposition of fruit is very slow. Fruit 

 may be kept sound and good for three or four months, or 

 longer. The cooler the house, the drier it will naturally 

 become, but when the natural tendency is aided by philo- 

 sophical construction, it will be perceived that the object 

 may be more easily accomplished. 



" Decomposing organic matter will of course throw off, 

 and, in fact, generate moisture ; but when the process -of 

 decomposition is reduced to the lowest point, or suspended 

 altogether, then less moisture will be present. 



" The foul gases, or odors, emanating from decaying 

 vegetables being volatile, are easily removed ; but the 

 removal of moisture, or aqueous vapor, is more difficult. 



" The last difficulty the removal of moisture, without the 

 use of artificial absorbents has been overcome by this in- 

 vention, in the most perfect manner, without any ex- 

 pensive machinery, or any daily cost in working the house. 



" The apparatus can be applied to large or small rooms, 

 or even closets and refrigerators, with equal ease and suc- 

 cess ; and from the very nature of things, being based 

 upon the strictest natural laws, is the only plan that can 

 produce the desired results, without the use of absorbents 

 or driers. 



" Fruit, in a state of moist decay, on being put into the 



