22 



greenness and fulness of the pedicels, and fruit stenns ; on the Catawbas 

 were some berries partially decayed, by insects, disease, or bruisingf, the rest 

 ehow the same appearance as when growing on or taken from the vine. The 

 duty assigned your Committee is associated with the pleasant retrospection, 

 that we, as members of tlie Cincinnati Horticultural Society, were among 

 the earliest if not the first members of a public body, to report upon and 

 strongly commend the valuable invention of Prof Nyce, and their visit to the 

 first structure he erected to demonstrate its practical value is still remembered 

 as among the most pleasant recollections, and it is a source of pleasure to 

 further know that the public are beginning to appreciate its value, and the 

 genius of the inventor to receive its substantial reward. A proof of which 

 our Society had another instance of in our visit to the substantial establishment 

 recently erected in Covington, by Caldwell Brothers & Smalley; and in this 

 connection your Committee return their thanks to Messrs. R. H. and R. F. 

 Caldwell, for their kindly courtesy and generous attentions on the occasion of 

 our visit to their establishment. 



Respectfully submitted, GEO. GRAHAM, ? p, ... 



VVM. HEAVER, J ^o"i'T^i"ee. 



EXTRACT FROM THE ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE POMO- 

 LOGICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO, DEC. 6, 1865. 



"It is always a matter of great importance to preserve our fruits in a sound 

 condition until their proper period of ripening, and it is often desirable to 

 defer that period as long as possible. Various methods have been proposed to 

 effect this object, mostly depending upon the maintenance of a low degree 

 of temperature. Of all the plans laid before the public, that of Mr. Nyce, 

 which has already been explained to this Society, appears to be not only the 

 most philosophical, but the most successful. We have had our summer fruits 

 kept until late in the autumn, with scarcely any change or ripening; indeed, 

 they were preserved for two months, as firm, and apparently as immature, as 

 when they were first gathered from the tree. 



" The perfect isolation of the chambers from the atmospheric and terrestrial 

 heat, by means of non-conducting walls and floors, enabling the inventor to 

 reduce the temperature of the air to nearly the freezing point, by means of ice 

 resting upon a metallic floor, which forms the ceiling of the chamber. In 

 addition to this, the atmosphere is kept dry by the use of chloride of calcium, 

 which rapidly absorbs all the moisture that exhales from the fruit after it is 

 introduced. 



" The establishment at Cleveland was described in the last Report, and 

 your attention is now called to the subject, because there is an establishment 

 near us which has been very successfully conducted by Messrs. Smith &l 

 Caldwell, of Newport, Kentucky, just across the river, which some of you 

 may wish to visit and examine. For its preserving power, you are referred 

 to the specimens of fruits upon the tables. These enterprising parties have 

 been so successful in their first experiments, that they have this year put 

 away 14,000 barrels of apples, which they can preserve perfectly until the 

 market is exhausted of the present supply, when they can command the 

 highest prices for their fruit." 



OPINION OF CITIZENS OF CLEVELAND. 



Cleveland, July 3d, 1805. 



We, the undersigned, citizens of Cleveland, have this day examined the 

 House of the Cleveland Fruit Company, built and conducted according to 



