Curious Method of preserving Apples. 363 



stocked with deer. A well-disposed pleasure-ground com- 

 mands extensive and interesting views of a large tract of 

 country towards the Irish Channel. Every feature of a fine 

 landscape is here presented to the eye : hills, rocks, and val- 

 leys, interspersed with fine timber trees, enrich the scenery. 



In the park, the beech and balm of Gilead firs are uncom- 

 monly stately ; some of the latter measuring 81' ft. in height 

 of stem, and 10 ft. in circumference at the base. Among the 

 ornamental trees, there is an oak which deserves particular 

 notice. This, twenty or thirty years ago, lost one of its 

 largest branches by the wind, and a partial decay was the con- 

 sequence; a key from a neighbouring sycamore fell into the 

 fracture, which, vegetating, has formed for the old mutilated 

 oak a new head. This parasite appears to have so completely 

 seated itself, that, though the place of its first lodgment is 

 12 ft. from the ground, our informant thinks that its roots 

 will very soon penetrate to the earth, and at last destroy its ve- 

 nerable nurse. 



The kitchen-garden contains eight acres, within walls 1 2 ft. 

 high. The forcing-buildings are extensive, consisting of peach 

 houses and pine stoves. For the latter purpose, a Dutch pit, 

 74 by 8 ft., is found more effectual for swelling off the fruit, 

 than even the fruiting-houses are. The whole appears to be 

 a forcing-establishment on a most respectable scale; as the 

 surface of glass contains no less than 6802 square feet. 



Curious Method of preserving Apples, Sfc. — In autumn, 

 when the apples are gathered, they are laid on square wicker 

 hurdles constructed for the purpose, and which fit into a 

 frame, one above another, upon ledges, so that those above do 

 not rest on the fruit below. The lowest tier of fruit must be 

 high enough from the ground to permit a fire of brushwood 

 to be kindled below. The frame may be made to hold six or 

 eight hurdles, and when overspread with fruit, each placed 

 separately, its sides are covered with mats, to keep the smoke 

 closely and longer within. The fire is made of vine branches, 

 and contimied till the fruit are, as it were, glazed over with 

 the fuliginous matter from the fire. The apples are then 

 wrapped up singly in paper, and packed in chests or barrels, 

 to be kept for use. These packages require looking over 

 occasionally during winter, to free them from any decayed 

 fruit, which would injure those that remain sound. — [The 

 pyroligneous acid seems the preservative agent in this pro- 

 cess.] — T, A. Meyer. Clapton Nursery, Jan. 



