342 THE FLORIST AND 



the sterile clayey subsoil being brought to the surface. Asparagus beds, as 

 soon as the stalks are cleared off, may have a good portion of the soil on 

 them raked off into alleys, and its place supplied with three or four inches 

 of rotten manure. * If the ground is of alight or sandy nature salt may 

 be applied before the manure. In wet soils it is injurious. Where the 

 root crops are unhoused the remarks in last month's calendar will still be 

 applicable. It is a nice point to preserve celery well through the winter to. 

 the spring. The main things are to keep it cool, just above freezing point, 

 and just moist enough to keep it from withering. Many take it up, and put 

 it in a cellar, where the above mentioned conditions can be obtained, packed 

 in sand. My usual plan is to take it up and pack them pretty close to- 

 gether side by side in spme sheltered spot, putting a thick coating of dry 

 straw on them on the approach of severe frost; keeping it* dry by laying old 

 shutters over all. T. J. 



Fruit. 

 Gathering and storing fruit. The preservation of winter fruit is a 

 matter deserving more attention and care than is generally bestowed upon 

 it. It is not now as formerly when fruit eaters and growers were content 

 with a few months supply. Nothing less should satisfy the cultivator than a 

 dish of fresh, ripe fruit every day in the year. Of course, very much de- 

 pends upon a judicious selection of trees, that ripen fruit in rotation; but 

 the dependence for a winter supply lies mainly in the mode of keeping the late 

 sorts through the winter and spring. The time of gathering requires par- 

 ticular attention ; if allowed to remain too long on the tree, the fruit be- 

 comes deteriorated. It should be picked just as the seeds commence chang- 

 ing color. The sacrifice of a few fruit in ascertaining this period is of no 

 importance, compared with the advantages of having them stored in proper 

 season. Cfhoosing a fine dry day, pick every fruit carefully by hand, and 

 guard against bruising them in the slightest degree. The smallest bruise 

 lays the foundation for putrefaction. The object now is to preserve the 

 juices of the fruit without subjecting them to decay. The way to insure 

 this is to place them in a temperature which will neither drain them of their 

 juices by evaporation, nor promote decay through damp. Light also should 

 be excluded. The difficulty of keeping the finer fruits in cellars arises from 

 either moisture or heat in these apartments. It has been found in the pre- 

 servation of ice, that houses constructed above ground, secured from ex- 

 ternal influences, keep it much longer than the best constructed well. The 

 same principles occur in the preservation of fruit. An exclusive artificial 

 temperature must be maintained, as uniform as possible. A minimum tem- 

 perature of 34° and a maximum of 40° may be considered the greatest 

 fluctuation desirable. The principal difficulty lies in keeping a proper hy- 



