CATTLE SCENTING RAIN. 213. 



PRESERVATION OF APPLES. 



Some kinds of Apples are so very mellow and juicy naturally, 

 that it is very diflicult to keep them sound any length of time. 



The cause of their rotting, is owing to the spontaneous decompo- 

 sition of their juices. This is accelerated by warmth or heat, — 

 indeed, heat and moisture, are the two principal agents in the de- 

 composition of all substances. Hence dry apples, or those that 

 are naturally not very juicy, keep sound the longest. Darwin re- 

 commends llie keeping of fruit in ice-houses — by freezing them 

 down, and when wanted for use, thawed gradually by immersion 

 in cold water. We should think this method might be used with 

 success, with some of the more delicate and tender pears v/hich 

 are very liable to decay. Some recommend laying them on shelves 

 in a dry airy place ; but it would take a very large place to pre- 

 serve any considerable quantity of fruit in this way, Others, re- 

 commend packing them away in dry straw ; and others, with much 

 more success, deposite them in bins or barrels, of oats, wheat or 

 other grain. Others, again, put them into very dry sand. We 

 should think, however, that saw-dust or pulverised charcoal would 

 be preferable. The fruit ought to be picked carefully from the 

 tree, and not shook with violence enough to bruise and break the 

 texture. It should be wiped as dry as possible, and if saw-dust is 

 used, it should be kiln-dried and the fruit should be laid carefully 

 into it in such a maimer that each apple should be completely sur- 

 rounded or enveloped in it, and care should also be taken, that too 

 much should not be put into one vessel, lest the pressure injure 

 those at the bottom. Perhaps charcoal, being an antiseptic, would 

 do better. We have known Grapes preserved a kng time, how- 

 ever, in the dried saw-dust. 



(j:^ As it is now the season for digging and securing Potatoes, 

 we would refer our readers to an article on the mode of preserving 

 them, in our first number. 



ivEisci:i.i.A]sr:sous. 



CATTLE SCENTING RAIV. 



Liable to long and parching droughts, the author of " Letters 

 from Buenos Jlyres, Chill,'''' &c., notices the well-known instinct of 

 cattle in scenting v/ater at a wonderful distance, where it was dis- 

 played on the approach of a rain, Jn a similar manner as if a river 

 or spring had been found : 



