494 STANDARD RECEIPTS. 



disturbed after packing until the box is opened at the time the fruit is to 

 be eaten. 



2. Sprinkle a layer of dry sawdust at the bottom of a box, and then 

 place a layer of apples in it, so that they will not touch each other. Upon 

 these place a little layer of sawdust, and so on until the box is filled. 

 The boxes, after being packed in this way, are to be placed on the wall 

 in the cellar, up from the ground, where they will keep, perfectly retain- 

 ing their freshness and flavor imtil brought out. 



3. Apples for keeping should be laid out on a dry floor for three 

 weeks. They then may be packed away in layers, with dry straw be- 

 tween them. Each apple should be rubbed with a dry cloth as it is put 

 away. They should be kept in a cool place, but should be sufficiently 

 covered with straw to protect them from frost. They should be picked 

 on a dry day. They also keep if packed in dry sand. 



4. An excellent method for preserving apples through the winter is 

 to put them in barrels or boxes, surrounding each apple with some dry 

 mould or gypsum (plaster of Paris) — not the calcined used for casts, 

 models, etc., — and keep in a dry, cool outhouse. 



To Keep Celery. This may be kept in good condition during the 

 winter in a cool, dry cellar, by having it set out in earth. When a 

 small quantity only is wanted, take a box and stand the celery up in it, 

 placing a little earth about the roots. The farmers who raise quantities 

 of it often keep it in their old hot-beds, .standing up, and protecting it 

 from frost. There is no vegetable more relished than this, and every 

 person who has a garden should raise enough for his own use, if no 

 more. 



To Keep Potatoes from. Sprouting. To keep potatoes intended 

 for the use of the table from sprouting until new potatoes grow, take 

 boiling water, pour into a tub, turn in as many potatoes as the water 

 will entirely cover, then pour off all the water, handle the potatoes care- 

 fully, la^dng up in a dry place on boards, only one layer deep, and see 

 if you do not have good potatoes the j-ear round, without hard strings 

 and watery ends caused by growing. 



Pears Kept Fresh. After they have been allowed to lay on the 

 shelves in the fruit-room, and sweat, they should be wiped dry, and 

 packed in boxes with dry sawdust enough to exclude the air from them. 

 If they were packed in dry sand, they would keep equally as well and 

 perhaps better; but the objection is that it is difficult to clean them from 

 sand, and they eat gritty when so kept. 



