&9 



updn the tree, the ripening process will not continue after it is 

 separated from the tree. So true is this that when one side of 

 a fruit is fully, and the other only partially developed, the 

 ripening will be confined to the former part, which will be 

 rich, melting, and juicy, while the latter will remain hard, 

 green, and tasteless. This is not unfrequently seen in the 

 Easter Beurre pear. 



It is desirable that fruit should remain upon the tree as long 

 as possible without too great risk of injury from hard frosts or 

 by blowing off; but nothing is gained by allowing it to hang 

 after the leaves have fallen, whether from disease or natural 

 ripening. From the first to the middle of October will be 

 found the best time for gathering winter apples and pears 

 here, but on dwarf trees or in sheltered places it may hang 

 longer than on tall standards or in exposed situations. I have 

 kept pears on the tree until the middle of November, but 

 without deriving any advantage from it. 



2d. The fruit must be gathered carefully when perfectly 

 dry, and must not he bruised or chafed. The waxy secretion 

 found on the skins of fruit, especially grapes and plums and 

 less abundantly on apples and pears, is a natural provision for 

 the protection of the skin from the efiect of moisture, and 

 therefore the skin should not even be wiped lest the bloom be 

 removed. When the skin is broken by bruising, so that the 

 oxygen of the air comes in contact with the juices of the fruit, 

 fermentation commences immediately, and decay soon extends 

 throughout the fruit. 



3d. Fruit must be protected from frost, which is well 

 known to completely disorganize its texture. 



4th. It must be kept from too great a degree of heat, for 

 this is the most powerful agent in promoting fermentation. 



5th. The proper temperature being ascertained it must be 

 kept uniform. The expansion and condensation of the juices 

 by variations of temperature, hasten their fermentation in- 

 stead of permitting it to take place slowly and gradually, as 

 desired. But though it is well known that apples and pears 



