74 



NEW ENGLAND FAJIMER. 



Feb. 



PEARS-A FRTJIT ROOM. 



Through the kind remembrances of Col. WILD- 

 ER, of Dorchester, we have from his highly cultivat- 

 ed and prolific grounds the following pears : the 

 fieurre (VAnjou, Belle Epine Dumas, Beurre 

 LnngUer, IVinter J\''elis, Beurre d'jJrcmherg and 

 Lawrence. These peai-s are now, about the middle 

 of December, not only sound, but having nearly all 

 their original plumpness, and freshness of color. 

 These qualities are preserved, we suppose, by the 

 aid of a fruit room, after great care is observed in 

 gathering and packing away. In his late address 

 before the American Pomological Society at lloch- 

 ester, Col. Wilder states that success in preserving 

 fruit can only be attained by having a "perfect con- 

 trol of the temperature, moisture and light;" and 

 that after having built and managed four fruit 

 rooms upon different plans, he is of the opinion 

 that a proper equilibrium of temperature and mois- 

 ture cannot ordinarily be obtained without the use 

 of ice. This must be gained by an ice apartment 

 above the fruit room, with descending flues for the 

 cold air, so as to preserve an equable temperature 

 and moisture, and hold the ripening process in sus- 

 pense. 



A gentleman from St. Louis lias informed us 

 that a room on this principle was constructed in 

 that city several years ago, and that ripe strawber- 

 ries had been kept in it for the space of six months 

 without any perceptible change in color or taste ; 

 that butchers there store their beef in quantities, 

 and that it acconamodates large numbers of persons 

 in preserving whatever articles they may possess of 

 a rapidly perishable nature, and which they cannot 

 dispose of at the time. Eggs are brought there in 

 great numbers, packed in oats, in boxes of particular 

 dimensions, and when a sufficient number of these 

 boxes is collected, they are sent to N^w Orleans 

 and exchanged, a box of the eggs and oats for a 

 box of oranges and lemons; the latter are then 

 taken to the preserving-room, and when the mar- 

 ket is quick, occasioned by a scarcity of these fruits, 

 they are sent all over the city by peddlers, or sold 

 at the groceries, as they may prefer. Slaughtered 

 hogs may also be kept there until the market is fa- 

 vorable for profitable sales. Butter made on the 

 Mississippi, and particularly on the Missouri, is 



room possessing such qualities for preservation 

 would become a source of profit to its proprietor. 



Our informant describes the rooms of which we 

 have spoken as covering quite a large surface, but 

 were low, the preserving room not being more than 

 ten feet in height, and the ice chamber only high 

 enough to admit a sufficient body of ice to keep the 

 temperature a little above the freezing point. The 

 floor descended gradually from the centre to the 

 edges, where troughs received and conveyed away 

 all the water that might drip from the ice. 



Comparatively few persons eat a good pear in 

 the month of December. There are always some 

 in the market, even much later than this, but the 

 price of them is an interdiction to most of u^. This 

 ought not to be so. But until apples become so 

 plenty as to be found on the tables of all classes, 

 we Avill not too earnestly press the matter of the 

 ^cultivation of the pear — only hoping that all who 

 can afford to do so, will annually plant and nourish 

 a few of the best varieties. 



We believe, then, that not only our own State, 

 but the nation, is indebted to those gentlemen who 

 have introduced and tested a great variety of pears, 

 and who are from time to time recommending 

 those that have passed the ordeal of their own per- 

 sonal criticism, or that of the horticultural or po- 

 mological societies. There are few more zealous or 

 persevering, or who have accomplished more in this 

 good work, than Col. Wilder. The fruits before 

 us are evidences of his skill. The Winter JVelis 

 and Latvrence were as near perfection as anything 

 we can conceive of in a pear. Most of the others 

 were more acid, and would therefore be preferred 

 by many. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MR. SHELDON'S HEIFER. 



Mr. Editor: — It is stated by Mr. S., ofW., 

 that the butter products of his three-year old heif- 

 er have far exceeded those of Mr. Osborn's heifer, 

 of which I gave you notice last month. The facts 

 stated by Mr. S. are decidedly interesting. I wish 

 he had stated about the size or iveight of his heifer, 

 and the manner in which she had been fed. No one 

 can better appreciate the necessity of having all 

 such facts distinctly known, than INIr. S. 



The price affixed for his heifer, $500, gives to his 



