OttCBAliD AXD riXETARD. 123 



Preserving Fruit. — Light and licat are the agents in ripening frulta. 

 The sagaciotis pomologist, therelbre, keeps them in a dark place and at as 

 low a temj)erature as possible short of freezing. Heat and moisrare cause 

 decay. Hence the fruit room, in addition to being kept cool, is also kept dry. 

 These three conditions were observed by Professor Myce in his system of 

 preservations, ice being used for cooling, and proper dryers for taking up 

 the superabundant moisture. We have had ripe tomatoes kept for three 

 months in such a house, and in the most perfect manner. Fruit-growera 

 may arrive sufficiently near the mark, so that fruit may be kept perfectly 

 during the cold months, by means of frost-proof walls, and a careful system 

 of ventilation, avoiding a thorough draft. 



Since fruit is easily affected by odors, care should be taken that the air of 

 any fruit house should be kept clean and sweet. To this end nothing but 

 friiit should be kept in the fruit house— at least nothing that will give off un- 

 pleasant odors. So particular are some in tlus respect that they will not 

 keep apples and pears in the same room. To insure perfect cleanliness, the 

 walls and floors should be frequently whitewashed with lime. We see no 

 reason why the sub-earth air duct system may not be one of the best means 

 for winter ventilation, as it certainly must be for summer ventilation. 



With care fmiXa noay be retarded in their ripening for long periods. 

 When wanted for tise they are removed to a warm and light place, where 

 they quickly mature. When extra fine specimens are to be preserved, they 

 are carefully packed in some dry odorless substance, as cotton-wool, bran, 

 buckwheat hulls, dry oak leaves, or pure sand. Land plaster is said to be 

 an excellent means for saving apples through the winter intact. A thin 

 layer of plaster is placed in the bottom of the barrel, then a layer of apples, 

 and so alternately layer of plaster and apples until the barrel is filled, when 

 the barrel is headed and kept in a cool place until spring, coming out sound 

 and intact. This plan should keep russets, and other varieties liable to 

 shrivel, and those wishing to keep apples as late as possible, and having no 

 fruit house, may find this plan valuable. There will be no loss in the plas- 

 ter, for it will be worth all it costs, and more, for sowing on the land after 

 the apples are used 



, Bark Lice on Apple Trees. — Judicious pruning of the branches, drain- 

 ing the land where the trees stand, manuring the soil and keeping it free 

 from grass and weeds, all have the effect to promote vigorous growth, and 

 are therefore useful in preventing the depredations of bark hce. Unless a 

 vigorous growth of a tree can be insured, it is of Uttle use to apply sub- 

 stances to kill the hce. The lady-bird, whose presence should always be 

 welcomed on farms, is the mortal enemy of the bark louse, as it is of many 

 other sorts of insects. But hurtful insects increase so much faster than use- 

 ful birds do that we may never exi)ect to see the latter exterminate the 

 former. Ladeed, no amoimt of cultivatioa and no ntimber of birds ever col- 

 lected in an orchard will be stifficient to clear it of the scale bark hce, if they 

 are generally distributed among the trees. K but a few trees have bark lice 

 on them, and they are well covered with them, it is best to cut them up. 

 This heroic treatment will prevent their spreading to other trees. The time 

 to kill the insects is when they begin to hatch. They are most readily killed 

 by applying some wash to the bark with a stiff brush or swab. The articles 

 iuost highly recommended for killing the hce are strong lye made of wood 

 ashes, a solution of caustic soda of potash, diluted soft soap, and a mixture 

 of lime whitewash and kerosene oil. If the latter is employed, the propor- 



