522 



FARM, ORCHARD, DAIRY AND GARDEN. 





for use. But almost immediately putre- 

 faction sets in, first dissipating the volatile 

 aroma and destroying the delicate flavor, 

 and finally converting the grateful sugar 

 into an unwholesome acid and consuming 

 the very tissues of the fruit. Though a 

 low temperature and dry atmosphere may 

 sometimes retard this change, yet so easy 

 and rapid is its progress that efforts to 

 preserve the fruit after it has become ripe 

 for use are of little avail. But the pro- 

 gress of the first change, the after-ripen- 

 ing, may be so delayed as to require sev- 

 eral months for its accomplishment. It 

 is done by taking the fruit from the tree 

 at the moment of its maturity, and keep- 

 ing it in a low, even temperature, in a dry, 

 pure atmosphere, and secluded from the 

 light. Fruit-houses are constructed where 

 these conditions are secured almost in 

 perfection ; where the thermometer, for 

 instance, does not rise above 34 for 

 months together, and fruit kept in them 

 has barely ripened for the late spring 

 market. 



Fruit should be gathered in a dry day. 

 Plums readily part from the twigs when 

 ripe ; they should not be much handled, 

 as the bloom is apt to be rubbed off. 

 Apricots may be accounted ready when 

 the side next the sun feels a little soft 

 upon gentle pressure with the finger; 

 they adhere firmly to the tree, and would 

 over-ripen on it and become mealy. 

 Peaches and nectarines, if moved up- 

 wards, and allowed to come down with a 

 slight jerk, will separate, if ready; and 

 they may be received into a tin funnel 

 lined with velvet, so as to avoid touching 

 with the fingers or bruising. 



A certain rule for judging of the ripe- 

 ness of figs is to notice when the small 

 end of the fruit becomes of the same color 

 as the large one. 



The most transparent grapes are the 

 most ripe. All the berries in a bunch 

 never ripen equally ; it is therefore proper 

 to cut away the unripe or decayed berries 

 before presenting the bunches at table. 



Autumn and winter pears are gathered, 

 when, dry, as they successively ripen. 



Immature fruit never keeps so well as 

 that which nearly approaches maturity. 

 Winter apples should be left on the trees 

 till there be danger of frost ; they are then 

 gathered on a dry day. 



FENCE, Fire-Proof, Wash for.— Make 

 a wash of 1 quart fine sand and 1 part 

 wood ashes well sifted, and 3 parts lime 

 ground up with oil, and mix together. 

 Apply this to the fence with a branch — 

 the first coat thin, the other thick. This 

 adheres to the boards or planks so strongly 

 as to resist an iron tool or fire, and is, be- 

 sides, impenetrable by water. 



FENCE POSTS, Preservation of.— Any 

 sort of timber, when employed for fence- 

 posts, will be more than twice as durable 

 if allowed to become thoroughly seasoned 

 before being set in the ground. The 

 durability of seasoned posts may be pro- 

 moted, so as to make them last for an age, 

 by the application of a heavy coat of coal- 

 tar to the portion buried in the earth, and 

 a few inches above the surface of the 

 ground. Some farmers set the ground- 

 end in hot tar, and let it boil for fifteen 

 minutes. When cool cover with coal-tar, 

 thickened with ground slate or ground 

 brick. The boiling stiffens the albumen, 

 and causes the pores to absorb tar. The 

 coating prevents the action of moisture. 

 But such a treatment of green posts would 

 do very little good, and perhaps mischief. 

 Others contend that the better way is to 

 season the post well before setting it, and 

 when the post-hole is filled to within ten 

 inches of the surface of the ground, to 

 apply a heavy coat of tar and fill up with 

 earth. As fence-posts always decay first 

 near the surface of the ground, it is only 

 necessary to protect the post a few inches 

 above the surface, and about a foot below 

 it. The timber begins to decay, usually, 

 on the surface of the posts. Therefore, if 

 the surface can be protected by some anti- 

 septic material, posts will last a lifetime. 



FLY ON TURNIPS, to Destroy.— Take 

 1 bushel of newly slaked lime, and mix 

 therewith y^ bushel of wood ashes ; mix 

 and blend the whole intimately together, 

 and sift the powder lightly along the top 

 of th e dril ls. 



FRUIT TREES, Over-Bearing— The 

 bending of branches of trees by an over- 

 crop of fruit is most injurious; for the 

 pores of the woody stalk are strained on 

 one side of the bend and compressed on 

 the other; hence the vessels through 

 which the requisite nourishment flows 

 being partially closed, the growth of the 

 fruit is retarded in proportion to the 

 : straining and compression of the stalk. 



