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ensure the preservation of fruit before it is sent into towns. The 

 following is the result of these trials : 1. Fruits wrapped in tissue- 

 paper kept perfectly to the end of the trial ; they ripened steadily ; 

 the fruits continued excellent in flavour and appearance. 2. In wood- 

 wool, a new product consisting of fine shavings, very long and 

 narrow, from Fir or Poplar, the pears and apples were well pre- 

 served, but inferior to those of the preceding lot. 3* In barley- 

 straw the fruit had neither spots nor a disagreeable scent, but it had 

 lost its freshness, and maturity was more advanced than in lots 1 

 and 2. 4. Pears and apples kept in hay had a pronounced flavour 

 of it ; they became spotty and rotten. 5. Sawdust yielded very bad 

 results ; the fruits were spotted, withered, smelt of the wood, and 

 were, in fact, unsaleable. 6. In fine wheat-straw the pears kept fairly 

 well ; the apples on the contrary, withered ; all were mouldy in 

 taste. 7. In dry leaves apples kept fairly well, but withered a 

 little ; pears became very spotted and withered. 8. Fruits left on 

 a fruit-room shelf were in moderately good condition ; but, placed 

 in a warm room, this lot suffered most from decay. 9. Specimens 

 packed in sand were perfectly preserved, but ripened less than under 

 any of the other conditions ; this is the best method where fruits 

 have to be kept for long ; before burying them in the sand it is 

 advisable to wrap them in tissue-paper." 



Under the title of " A New Packing Material " the Gardener's 

 Chronicle mentions an interesting experiment which took place some 

 three years ago, in the matter of packing fruits in Victoria for ship- 

 ment to England : 



" As is pretty generally known, apples and pears are now 

 brought from the Cape of Good Hope and from the Australian 

 colonies in boxes holding a bushel, which are stored on board ship 

 in cool chambers. These chambers, or refrigerators, have been 

 supplied by the steamship companies at a considerable outlay of 

 money. The fruits are merely wrapped in tissue, and placed in the 

 boxes. 



" Under this system, apples have for the most part come very 

 successfully ; but pears have been less satisfactory. Occasionally 

 there have been pears from the Antipodes that have reached this 

 country in a sound condition, but numerous consignments have 

 proved to be of little value, and the commission agent is never able 

 to speak of such fruits or to gauge their value until they have been 

 unpacked. The freight per bushel from Victoria to London for 

 apples and pears so stored on board ship in cool chambers is 3s. 9d. 



" Such are the circumstances of the present system, and the 

 amount of freight paid for passage. 



" And now for the experiment, for intelligence of which we are 

 indebted to Mr. J. B. Thomas, well-known fruit salesman in Covent 

 Garden, to whom the fruits which have been the subjects of experi- 

 ment were addressed. 



" Instead of packing the apples wrapped in tissue only, in the 

 case of several bushels that have recently arrived in London by the 



