PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 103 



that out of several hundred seedlings of 1856 none were good, although 

 sown from the best seed that I could obtain. In 1859 I raised another 

 large quantity. Being more careful in selecting the varieties and in their 

 fertilization, the result was a thousand different varieties. There were 

 sixty pistillates, one staminate, which produced no fruit, and the remainder 

 bisexual or hermaphrodite. 



Out of this number I have three varieties that have fruited three years, 

 that I think worthy of being cultivated. From two hundred seedlings of 

 1860, fruited two years, I shall keep two for further trial. 



To those who may think this a tedious undertaking, I would say that no 

 one should undertake to produce new and improved varieties of fruits and 

 flowers if it is to be looked upon as labor. It should be made a pleasant 

 pastime. 



The subject of the day, "Detention Houses and Fruit Kooms," was then 

 taken up. 



Prof. Mapes. — The increased demand for pears and other choice ^uits 

 necessarily calls for detention houses to prevent sudden ripening, /riaY rooms, 

 etc. It is well understood that the better kinds of pears cannot be ripened 

 on the tree with the best results; the flavor is not developed while grow- 

 ing, and if ripened at later dates they are more juicy; indeed, the sugary 

 portions are not developed for a long time after leaving the tree. Thus a 

 pear which is found to be in its best condition if ripened in January, is very 

 inferior if ripened in November or December, and therefore means are called 

 for to arrest the ripening until the former date. All pomologists agree 

 as to the necessity of keeping pears in the dark after their removal from 

 the trees, until the proper date for their removal to a warm room for matur- 

 ing, and various modes have been suggested to prevent premature ripen- 

 ing, most of which have proved hurtful to the quality of the fruit. Pears 

 wrapped in paper and then packed in charcoal dust, plaster of Paris, burnt 

 bones, or sawdust, are sure to lose their flavor almost entirely, even when 

 kept at very low temperatures. Washed sand, thoroughly freed from mois- 

 ture by heat, is among the best substances known for the purpose; but if 

 the sand be not pure, Tike sea-sand, or should it contain one per cent, of 

 clay, it will certainly abstract some of the flavor from the fruit. 



When paper is used, it should not be of the most absorbent kind, for 

 even it will take up the flavor of the fruit. Lemons and oranges, as they 

 come from the Mediterranean, wrapped in paper and packed in boxes, have 

 little flavor as compared with the same fruits otherwise packed. Malaga 

 grapes are often imported in large, unglazed absorbent jars, filled with 

 baked sawdust; and if no decay occur to moisten the sawdust, they retain 

 their original flavor; but the slightest moisture robs them of their aroma. 



The best place to arrest ripening is a dark room, faMy ventilated, and 

 four or five degrees above the freezing point — at a lower temperature, say 

 one or two degrees above the freezing point, the proximate change in the 

 fruit does not occur, and an inferior quality of result is the consequence. 



A detention house need not of necessity be an ice-house, but should be 

 supplied with an ice-box placed near the ceiling, constantly supplied with 

 ice, and having an opening to admit a current of air above the ice; this will 

 •ontinuously descend into the room as it becomes cold, and no faster, and 



