Keeping and Storing Fruits and Vegetables. 107 



Grapes, continued. 



from frost. A clear dry day is necessary for picking, and 

 careful handling and shallow baskets are important. The 

 room selected for the drying process should be well ven- 

 tilated, and the fruit laid out in single layers on tables or 

 in baskets where the air circulates freely, the windows be_ 

 ing closed at night and in damp weather. In about ten 

 days the stems will be dried out sufficiently to prevent 

 moulding when laid away. When danger from this is over 

 and the stems resemble those of raisins, the time for pack- 

 ing has arrived. In this, the point to be observed is to ex- 

 clude air proportionately with their tendency to mould. I 

 have used baskets for permanent packing, but much prefer 

 shallow trays or boxes of uniform size to be packed on 

 each other, so that each box forms a cover for the lower, 

 the uppermost only needing one. Until very cold weather, 

 the boxes can be piled so as to allow the remaining moist- 

 ure to escape through a crevice about the width of a knife 

 blade. Before packing, each bunch should be examined, 

 and all injured, cracked and rotten berries removed with 

 suitable scissors. If two layers are packed in a box, a 

 sheet of paper should intervene. The boxes must be kept 

 in a dry cool room, or passage, at an even temperature. If 

 the thermometer goes much below freezing point, a blanket 

 or newspaper can be thrown over them, to be removed in 

 mild weather. Looking over them once in the winter and 

 removing defective berries will suffice, the poorest keepers 

 being placed accessible. Under this treatment the best 

 keepers will be in good edible order as late as February, 

 after which they deteriorate. 



The following is a list of the grapes worth noticing that 

 have been tested for keeping : 



