460 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



srapes were beautiful ; on one bunch, two grapes had turned 

 brown, but were firm, full, and free of mold; they did not taste 

 at all sour, thus differing essentially from moldy grapes, espe- 

 cially those subject to Penicillium glaucum. The hair hygrometer 

 in the recipient registered 98. On December 7, the bunches of 

 grapes in the recipient containing the alcohol had kept their fine 

 aspect; on most of them, however, one or two grapes had turned 

 brown, and were in the same condition as those above referred to. 

 On December 24, same results ; on most of the bunches could 

 be seen one or two grapes commencing to decay. At the end 

 of nearly two months, each bunch had lost but from two to four 

 grapes each and all were in a perfect state of preservation, the 

 stalks being perfectly green and the grapes firm, full, and savory, 

 and having all the qualities of fresh -cut grapes. 



"At the conclusion of the experiment, 28 cubic centimeters 

 (17 cubic inches) of alcohol at 60 remained in the bottle out of 

 the 100 cubic centimeters (61 cubic inches) at 96, but, as Mr. 

 Petit remarks, the door of his recipient had not been built with 

 great care and did not close hermetically, hence a useless con- 

 sumption of alcohol. 



"This process offers many advantages. It is simple, easy of 

 application, and cheap, and, if adopted by our fruit-growers, 

 would allow them not only to hold their fine fruits until they can 

 dispose of them at a fair price, but would also insure them hand- 

 some profits during the winter months." 



Beckwith makes the following note* upon this 

 method: "For the purpose of testing the process as 

 described in the above circular, two fully ripened 

 branches of Norfolk grapes were placed, together 

 with two ounce bottles filled with alcohol, upon a 

 large pane of glass and covered with a glass bell 

 jar. The grapes thus prepared were placed upon a 

 table in my laboratory, where they remained until 

 December 18, perfectly sound and plump in appear- 



* Eighth Ann. Rep. Del. Exp. Sta., 110. 



