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apples in large quantities know how to do it ; but with deli- 

 cate fruits, such as the pear and grape, more care is requi- 

 site. 



The ripening of fruit depends on saccharine fermentation : 

 this is followed by other fermentations, as the vinous and 

 acetous. To prevent these, and preserve fruit in all its 

 beauty, freshness, and flavor, the temperature must be uni- 

 form, and kept below the degree at which the fermentation, 

 or ripening process, commences. Mr. Robert Manning in his 

 prize essay many years ago said, " The ripening of fruit is 

 the completion of the chemical process- by which starch is 

 transformed into sugar, and is the first step toward fermenta- 

 tion or decay : therefore whatever promotes fermentation will 

 hasten the ripening ; whatever retards fermentation will tend 

 to its preservation." 



The conditions of success may be briefly stated as follows : 

 The perfect control of temperature, light, and moisture. Nu- 

 merous structures have been built both in our own and other 

 countries for this purpose ; and all experience shows that 

 these conditions must be complied with, or success cannot be 

 attained: hence these apartments must be cool, and con- 

 structed so as to exclude at pleasure the external atmosphere, 

 which starts fermentation. After many years of experience, 

 both with and without the use of ice, I have adopted a house 

 built in a cool, shady aspect, with door on the north, and 

 with a thoroughly drained and cemented cellar whose win- 

 dows may be opened or closed at pleasure. In this way I 

 am enabled to keep my late fall and winter pears until Feb- 

 ruary or March in good condition. Apples may be kept at a 

 lower temperature than pears, — say thirty-four to forty de- 

 grees. In such a cellar, our associate member, Mr. John F. 

 Brown of Lunenburg, has kept Baldwins to the middle of 

 June, when he has realized as high as from six to nine dollars 

 per barrel. Mr. Brown barrels his apples, and places them 

 immediately in his cellar, where he has control of the tem- 

 perature. 



Late fruits may remain on the trees until severe frosts are 

 feared, but should be gathered with great care. Summer 

 pears should be picked some days before the ripening process 

 commences. A summer pear ripened upon the tree is gener- 

 ally inferior. In respect to the latter, Mr. Patrick Barry has 



