222 GATHERING AND PRESERVATION 



or dry leaves. Not more than three layers should be 

 disposed in one basket, and each layer should be kept 

 separate by leaves. The fruit must be taken imme- 

 diately under cover. 



Preservation of fruits applies mostly to those fruits 

 which only ripen during winter. The object is : 



1. To preserve them from frosts, which completely 

 disorganise them. 



2. To so manage that the ripening takes place 

 gradually, and is prolonged, for a portion of the fruit, 

 until the end of May. The complete or partial success 

 of this depends upon the construction of the fruit-room, 

 or place where the fruit is kept. 



The Fruit-house. Experience proves that the fruit- 

 house or fruit-room affords the most satisfactory results 

 which fulfils the following seven conditions : 



1. An equal temperature at all seasons. 



2. A temperature eight or ten degrees above freezing. 



3. Complete exclusion of the light. 



4. Absence of all communication between the fruit- 

 room and the exterior atmosphere. 



5. The place should be dry rather than damp. 



6. Such an arrangement as prevents, as much as 

 possible, the fruit being injured by the pressure of its 

 own weight. 



7. A northern aspect, on a very dry soil, slightly 

 elevated. 



These are the arrangements of a fruit-house that we 

 think fulfil all the required conditions. The size, of 

 course, must depend upon the quantity of fruit. That 

 of which we now give a plan (figs. 184 and 185) is 



