FRUIT-HOUSES. 101 



own or other matter. The aroma of fruit, upon which depends 

 so much of its relish and excellence, is extremely volatile, and 

 the fruit should therefore be excluded from the air as much as 

 possible, only admitting what may be necessary to preserve pro- 

 per temperature, and the preven-tion of too much moisture. No 

 imperfect specimen should therefore be admitted into the room, 

 and all decaying fruit should be removed immediately. The 

 practice of spreading out fruits on shelves, as formerly recom- 

 mended in this country, and still practised in Europe, requires 

 too much room and waste, and even in pretty close apartments 

 they lose much of their flavor, and without extraordinary care 

 will become dry and shrivelled. The better course, therefore, 

 is to pack in boxes or barrels ; and to avoid the necessity of 

 handling, to pack them immediately from the tree. 



One of the greatest obstacles to the preservation of late fruits 

 is the warm weather of October and early November. When 

 the apple and pear can be carried through these months without 

 starting the ripening process, there is very little labor in keep- 

 ing, especially the late sorts, through the winter, if stored in 

 a proper temperature and suitable houses or cellars. 



If fruits are to be kept for a long time, the temperature 

 must be so low as to prevent fermentation of the juices ; but it 

 is possible to keep this so low, and so long, as to destroy the vi- 

 tality of the fruit, producing a change analogous to the petri- 

 fying process. We have seen such instances with pears kept in 

 modern fruit-houses controlled with ice, that could not be made 

 to resume the ripening process. In these houses the tempera- 

 ture is regulated by ice. 



Several different structures on this principle have been 

 erected, and are now in operation in cities of the United States, 

 for the preservation and ripening of fruits. These are of un- 

 doubted value for the fruiterers in large cities, who devote per- 

 sonal care to their management, but for the great mass of culti- 

 vators they are too expensive. 



The fruit-houses of Prof. Nyce, one of which is located near 

 Boston, are on the principle, discovered nearly a hundred years 

 since by Dr. Henry, of keeping the fruit in an atmosphere of 

 carbonic acid gas. This house is kept close, without ventila- 

 tion, and has preserved delicate fruits, like the pear and grape, 

 through the winter season in perfection. But while we admit 



