S18 



THE GENESEE EAKMEK. 



attached it is less liable to decay, as the berries have 

 a tendency to separate from each other. The bunches 

 ue then hung by the other end of the S hook around 



one or two hoops (fig. 5) placed one above the other, 

 and suspended from the ceiling of the room, and 

 rendered movable by two small pullies. 



" If it be desired to keep in this way a large quan- 

 tity of grapes, space may be economized by substi- 

 tuting for the hoops wooden frames (fig. 6), about 4 



Fig. 6. 



feet square. These frames are furnished with strips 

 or rods s^eparated from each other by a space of 3 or 

 four inches, and having on one side small pins to sus- 

 jjend the crotchets of grapes on. These frames are 

 also fixed to the ceiling so as to occupy all the sur- 

 face, and, like the hoops, to move up and down as may 

 be necessary. 



" The grape-gi'owers of Thoniery, who preserve a 

 large quantity of grapes, content themselves with 

 placing bunches on wire frames, on which they proba- 

 bly s]3read a thin layer of very dry fern. 



" When all the fruits are thus arranged in the fruit- 

 room, the doors and windows are left open during the 

 day, unless in wet weather. Eight days' exposure to 

 the air in this way will be necessary to deprive the 

 fruits of their surplus moisture. After that, a dry 

 and cold time is chosen to close hermetically all the 

 openings. The doors must be opened no more, except 

 when necessary to enter. 



*• Until the present time we have employed no other 



means to remove moisture from the fruit^room but by 

 creating currents of air more or less intense. This 

 mode is attended with serious inconveniences for the 

 preservation of fruit. In the first place, it produces 

 an equilibrium of temperature between the atmos- 

 phere of the fruit-room and the exterior, and this 

 change is very injurious to the fruits. In the second 

 place, a glare of light is instantly admitted to the 

 fruits, and this is no less injurious tlian the change of 

 temperature. In fine, this vicious method should not 

 be practiced unless the exterior temperature is not 

 below the freezing point, and the weather is dry. In 

 the winter, however, the weather is generally the ro- 

 vers of this, and the fruits have to be abandoned to 

 a destructive moisture. 



"To escape this difficulty, we advise the use of 

 chloride of calcium. This has the property of ab- 

 sorbing so great a quantity of moisture (about double 

 its own weight) that it becomes liquified after being 

 exposed for a certain time to a moist atmosphere. 

 Fresh lime has the same property of absorbing mois- 

 ture ; but at the same time it absorbs the carbonic 

 acid set free by the fruits, and it is important to save 

 this gas, as it aids materially in preserving them. 



'•To employ the chloride of calcium, a sort of 

 wooden box should be constructed (A, fig. 7), lined 



Fig. 7. 



with lead (F), about 18 inches wide and 4 inches 

 deep. It is raised about 18 inches from the floor, on 

 a small table (B) having one of its sides (C) about 

 1| inches lower than the other. At the middle of 

 the lowest side of the box a small mouth is fixed for 

 the liquified chloride to run over into a stone jar (E) 

 placed below it. The chloride is spread in the box 

 in small porous particles, very dry, and about 3 inches 

 thick; and if the quantity employed be entirely liqui- 

 fied before the fruit is consumed, a fresh supply may 

 be added. About fifty pounds applied at three times 

 is sufficient for a fruit-room such as is described above. 

 The liquid which results from this operation should 

 be carefully saved in the jar, and be kept covered 

 until the following season. When the fruit-room is 

 filled anew, the liquid may be put in a brass kettle 

 and placed over the fire, where it will soon evaporatB 

 to perfect dryness, and may be employed again in the 

 same manner as before. 



" Such are the cases necessary to fill the conditions 

 we have indicated for the preservation of fruits. The 

 fruit-room should be visited at least once in eight 

 days, to remove the fruits which begin to decay, set 

 apart those which are ripe, remove the decaying berries 

 from the grapes, and renew the chlorido of calciunv" 



