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fibre and farina. Thus, pears which become mealy and rot 

 at the core, when left on the tree to ripen, become juicy, 

 melting and delicious, when ripened in the house." Winter 

 pears should not be picked until absolute danger from freez- 

 ing approaches, they will then ripeu up firm, with high color 

 and finer flavor. All pears should be picked off, Avith the 

 stem on, carefully, and handled as little as possible and very 

 carefully afterwards, as every scratch will turn dark on mel- 

 low fruit, and every bruise will rot it. The practice of some, 

 of rubbing fruit to make it shine, injures the keeping quali- 

 ties of the fruit, destroys its natural look, and any exhibition 

 committee should give the natural fruit the preference. 

 Fruit with an unnatural shine on the whole in the plate, 

 more properly belongs to the huckster's stand than the tables 

 of an Agricultural Society's Exhibition. 



To keep pears longest and best, they should be kept in a 

 dark, cool, dry place, with temperature, if possible, at about 

 40 degrees, taking them to a warm, moderately moist place 

 to ripen and soften them, an even temperature of 70 

 degrees is best. If laid between papers in Summer, and 

 blankets in Winter, to ripen, they will come out with better 

 flavor and color, ripening quicker and without wilting ; fruit 

 loses flavor if ripened in a place too cool. 



The two large plates full of Clapp's Favorite pears and 

 William's Favorite apples, exhibited by our Chairman, at- 

 tracted attention, not so much for being handsome specimens 

 of their kind, but for being "past their season," having been 

 kept by wrapping each one in paper and packing them in a 

 keg heavil}' lined with newspapers. The keg was then 

 headed up and placed in a large ice-house near his premises 

 until the day before the Fair. A neighbor of his wraps 

 apples separate!}'' in papers, packs them in paper lined bar- 

 rels, and then fills the barrels with dry sand, sending them 

 to hot climates with success, as regards their keeping. A 

 w^riter in the London Garden says that "he keeps fruit in 

 this way all the year round. He has kept French Crab Ap- 



