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fears keep good above ten Days 

 or a Fortnight after they are ga- 

 thered. But the Winter Fruits 

 fhould hang as long upon the Trees 

 as the Seafon will permit i for they 

 niuft: not receive the Froft, which will 

 caufe them to rot, and render their 

 Juices flat and ill-tailed j but if the 

 Weather continues mild until the 

 Middle of Ociober^ it will then be 

 a good Seafon for gathering them 

 in, which muft always be done in 

 dry Weather, and when the Trees 

 are perfe6lly dry. 



in the doing of this you ought 

 ^carefully to avoid bruiling them, 

 therefore you Ihould have a broad, 

 flat Basket to lay 'em in as they 

 are gathered ; and when they are 

 carried into the Store- Room, they 

 Should be taken out fingly, and 

 each Sort laid up in a dole Heap, 

 on a dry Place, in order to fweat, 

 where they may remain for eight 

 or ten Days, during which Time 

 the Windows fhould be open, to 

 admit the Air, in order to carry 

 oft all the Moifture which is per- 

 fpired from the Fruit j after this, 

 the Ve^rs fhould be taken fingly, 

 and wiped dry with a woollen 

 Cloth, and then pack'd up in clofe 

 Baskets, obfcrving to put Ibme 

 fweet Wheat Straw in the Bottoms 

 and round the Sides of the Baskets, 

 to prevent their bruiling again ft 

 the Basket 5 you Ihould alio oblerve 

 to put but one Sort of Fruit into 

 a Basket, left by their different 

 Fermentations, they flicald rot each 

 other J but if you have -inough of 

 one Sort to fill a Basket which 

 holds two or three Bufiiels, it will 

 be flill better. After you have 

 fill'd the Baskets, you mull cover 

 them over with Wheat Straw ve- 

 ry clofe, and faften them down. 



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then place thcfe Baskets in a dole 

 Room, where they may be kept 

 dry, and from Froft, but the le/s 

 Air is let into the Room, the bet- 

 ter the Fruit will keep : It will be 

 very neceflary to fix a Label to 

 each Basket, denoting the Sort of 

 Fruit therein contained, which 

 will fave the Trouble of opening 

 them, whenever you want to 

 know the Sorts of Fruit; belidcs, 

 they ought not to be opened be- 

 fore their Seafon to be eaten, for 

 the ofrner they are opened and ex- 

 pofcd to the Air, the worle they 

 will keep. I don't doubt but this 

 will be objedied to by many, who 

 imagine Fruit can't be laid too thin, 

 for which Rcafbn they make 

 Shelves to dilpofe them fmgly upon, 

 and are very fond of admitting frefh 

 Air, whenever the Weather is mild, 

 fuppoling it very necefTary to pre- 

 ferve the Fruit; but the contrary 

 of this is found true, by thofe Per- 

 Ibns who have large Stocks of 

 Fruit laid up in their Store-Houfes 

 in London, which remain doleiy 

 fhut up for feveral Months, in the 

 Manner before related; and when 

 thefe are opened, the Fruit is al- 

 ways found plumper and Ibunder 

 than any of thole Fruits which 

 were prcferved lingly upon Shelves. 

 For, as Mr. Boyle obferves, the Air 

 is the Caufe of Putrefaction, and 

 in order to prove this, that honou- 

 rable Perfon put Fruits of feveral 

 Kinds into GlalTes where the Air 

 was exhaufted, in which Places 

 they remained found for feveral 

 Months, but upon being expos'd 

 to the Air, did rot in a very Ihort 

 Time; which plainly fhews the 

 Abfurdity of the common Method 

 now ulcd to preiervc Fruit. 



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