FRUIT TREES. Chap. V. Ill 



for late in the season, don't ripen until long after they've been picked. They're left on the 

 tree until the first frosts at the end of September or the beginning of October require that 

 they be covered. Fruit damaged by frost loses its flavor & spoils quickly. Those picked 

 too early fade & attain neither the normal ripeness nor the flavor expected for them. Pears 

 are more sensitive than are apples to these early cold spells; Apy apples [Translator's 

 note: a small red and white firm, sweet apple named for Claudius Appius who introduced 

 them to Rome] usually can stay on the trees until November. 



The fruit loft should be in a dry place, sufficiently well located, constructed, and 

 closed up around the door and window frames that neither frost nor moisture, the two 

 great enemies of fruit, can get inside, & that rats & mice won't find any passage or refuge 

 there. The stoves found in some fruit lofts protect them from frost and moisture, but the 

 heat that they put out promotes ripening of the fruit & shortens the time that it takes. The 

 inside perimeter should be furnished with one or with several rows of shelves or boards 

 that have a wooden rod at the edge to hold the fruit. The center can be occupied by tables 

 or by similar shelves. (Cupboards that close tightly would be preferable to shelves). Some 

 cover the boards with paper, others with straw, very dry moss, &c. Others leave them 

 bare. On shelves for apples, some spread out elder blossoms so that they acquire their 

 fragrance, since they readily take on the scent of straw, wood, & everything fragrant on 

 which they're left for a long time. 



After the fruit has been harvested in good weather, it's brought into the fruit loft. 

 The fruits are arranged so that they don't touch each other. Each type is placed 

 separately. Pears are set down on their eye because signs of ripening first appear on the 

 other end that must be visible. 



