No. 129.] 423 



R. L. Pell, being called on by the Chairman, said, that he had 

 experimented on the subject ; had made tin vessels of the capac- 

 ity of six quarts each, put fresh fruit in them, pumped out all 

 the atmospheric air, and then hermetically sealed them. On 

 examination decay had taken place at the end of three months, 

 and soon after they became a mass of corruption. Those fruits 

 ■would have kept as well out ef the vessels as in. 



Chairman. — Has any gentleman present any knowledge of the 

 preservation of grapes buried several feet deep in earth . Apples 

 and potatoes have been so preserved. 



Judge Van Wyck. — I have preserved Isabella grapes in sawdust 

 of oak wood, in jars covered tight ; these grapes kept very well 

 until near the next spring. Some of our farmers preserve their 

 apples well by putting them on shelves in dry cellars. The apples 

 must be sweated and wiped often enough to keep them always 

 dry ; and beforehand the apples must be most carefully picked 

 and kept free of all bruises. In this way they keep well until 

 spring. The temperature of the cellars should be kept uniformly 

 about thirty-five or forty degrees Fahrenheit. I have preserved 

 grapes well in cotton. Pine sawdust is injurious to the flavor of 

 grapes. 



Mr. Pell. — In lSi9 I tried an experiment on my house grapes. 

 I put some of them in cotton, some in kiln-dried cork dust, ma- 

 hogany dust, in very tight b<:txes made of pine wood ; placed all 

 the boxes in a ^-arret. They were all decayed by the first of 

 January following. At the same time I packed Isabella grapes 

 in barrels, some with cotton, and others in sawdust. All these 

 grapes were sound in the second week of the following January. 



Chairman. — The grapes we import from Europe) are picked 

 <ome short time before they are ripe. 



A Member. — The grapes from Spain are partially dried before 

 they are packed. In the south of France they causo them to be 

 partly wilted before packing. 



Mr. Pell.— I carefully dried my House and isabejia grapes 

 before packing. 



