252 



THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUBI8T. 



The room selected for the drying pro- 

 cess should be well ventilated, and the 

 fruit laid out in single layers on tables 

 or in baskets where the air circulates 

 freely, the windows being closed at 

 night and in damp weather. In about 

 ten days, the stems will be dried out 

 sutiicieutly to pi-event moulding when 

 laid away. When danger from this is 

 over, and the stems resemble those of 

 raisins, the time for packing has 

 arrived. In this, the point to be 

 observed is to exclude air consistently 

 with their tendency to mould. I have 

 used baskets for permanent packing, 

 but much pi'efer shallow trays or boxes 

 of a uniform size to be packed on each 

 other, so that each box forms a cover 

 for the lower, the uppermost only need- 

 ing one. Until very cold weather, tlie 

 boxes can be piled so as to allow the 

 remaining moisture to escape through 

 a crevice about the width of a knife- 

 blade. Before packing, each bundle 

 should be examined, and all injured, 

 ci'acked and rotten berries removed 

 with suitable scissors. If two layers 

 are packed in a box, a sheet of paper 

 should intervene, the boxes must be 

 ke[)t in a dry, cool room, or passage, at 

 an even temperature. If the ther- 

 mometer goes much below freezing 

 point, a blanket or newspapers can be 

 thrown over them, to be removed in 

 mild weather. Looking them over 

 once in the winter and removing defec- 

 tive berries will suffice, the poorest 

 keepers being placed accessible. Under 

 this treatment the best keepers will be 

 in good eatable order as late as Febru- 

 ary, after which, they deteriorate. 

 Before proceeding further I can say, 

 from a basis of long observation, that 

 no fruit is of greater benefit as an 

 article of diet than the grape, and if it 

 were more generally used, dyspepsia, 

 and other disorders of the digestive 

 orgaiis, and consumption would be less 

 known. 



The following is a list of the grapes 

 worth noticing that have been tested 

 for keeping : — 



Description'. 



( Nov. 1st. 



Dec. 1st. 



List of Grapes to be Recommknobd. 



Lady, Antoinette, Carlotta, Belinda. 



Lad}- Washington, Peter Wiley, 

 ;Mason's Seedling, Wordeii, Sen- 

 asqua, Romell's Superior, Rick- 

 ett's Xo. 546, Concord, Delaware. 



Duchess, Essex, Barry, Rockland 

 Favorite, Aminia, Garber's New 

 Seedling, Massasoit, Dempsey's 

 No. 5, Burnett, Undine, Allen's 

 Hybrid, Agawaiu, Gen. Pope, 

 Francis Scott. 



Jan. 15th. Salem, Vergennea, El Dorado. 



Feb. 1st. Wilder, Herbert, Peabody, Rogers 

 No. 30, Gaertner, Mary & Owasso. 



The new varieties, Empire State and 

 Norwood, have not been tested here. — 

 Report Montreal Hort. Society. 



Evaporating Fruit. — Prof. Ai-nold, 

 in the New York Tribune, says evapo- 

 rating tVuit has been a God-send to 

 horticulture and to the human race, by 

 converting thousands upon thousands 

 of bushels of fruit every year into 

 wholesome and delicious food which 

 would otherwise have been lost. Far- 

 mers all through western New York 

 find that evaporators suited to their 

 needs pay better than selling the green 

 fruit, and far better than making it into 

 cider to prove a curse to the consumer. 

 An evaporater will cost about $5 for 

 each bushel of apples it will dry per 

 day. The " running expense " in labor 

 and fuel for evaporating apples at Ro- 

 chester, N. Y., is 10 to 12 cents a 

 bushel ; raspberries, 4 to 5 mills per 

 quart ; peaches, 25 to 35 cents a bushel. 

 In a large way it costs less than in a 

 small one. 



