STORAGE OF FRUIT. 261 



40 deg. This should be well ventilated for two or three 

 weeks after the fruit has been stored, until the perspira- 

 tion has dried up; then gradually close and make 

 quite dark. Pears require' a warmer and drier atmo- 

 sphere to bring up and retain their flavour. For 

 these an attic would answer, if a fire could be lighted in 

 severe weather. We saw a very good fruit room a short 

 time ago in a clergyman's garden. A hole was dug in 

 the ground gft. wide, about i2ft. long and 3ft. deep. 

 The soil, being of a clayey nature, was used as mud walls 

 for continuing the building about 2ft. higher at the sides, 

 and the ends in proportion. There was enough soil to 

 bank the sides up to the roof about 3ft. in thickness. 

 The roof was thatch, about ift. in thickness. Nothing 

 could be better for keeping the cold and the heat out, or 

 for preserving the fruit, and the expense in building 

 was trifling. The door was the weak point, but 

 this could be remedied by having two doors. Anyone 

 could have shelves in this place 3ft. wide and ift. 6in. 

 apart each side, or one side could be shelved and the other 

 used for different purposes. 



Another method is to procure some of the movable fruft 

 trays which are usually advertised for sale in the garden- 

 ing journals in autumn. These are made with open lath 

 bottoms, and with sides sufficiently deep to allow of a 

 single layer of fruit being placed on them. The trays, 

 as filled, are then placed one over the other to form a 

 kind of nest, and may be stored in a cellar, or cool place, 

 or on the floor of the fruit room. These trays occupy 

 .comparatively little space, and the open laths permit a 

 free circulation of air among the fruit. Some have a 

 frame made to take the trays, and enable the latter to be 

 easily withdrawn when required. Anyway, this is an 

 excellent plan for those who have only small quantities 

 of fruit to store, and only limited storage room. (Fig. 122.) 



Where a large quantity of fruit has to be stored, a 

 proper fruit room should be provfded. The best position 

 for this is against a north wall. 



