FRUIT ROOM. 87 
ripened in a fruit room is more beautiful in color, 
has a finer aroma, and is much richer in flavor than 
if ripened on the tree. 
When the skin of the pear ceases in degree (as 
it does in the fruit room) to exercise those powers 
which it possessed while growing, it becomes imper- 
vious, and all the sugar formed and the flavor de- 
veloped are retained. It is for this reason that pears 
ripened off the tree are so superior to those which 
are allowed to come to maturity on the tree. 
The difference between a detention room and an 
ordinary fruit room should be distinctly understood. 
As each kind of pear is superior in quality, when 
ripened at its own particular date, pears that are 
best in flavor and quality in January, should not be 
ripened in December. An increased temperature 
will cause them to ripen any time after gathering. 
The detention room prevents premature ripening, 
and the fruit for market may be kept until such time 
as high prices may be realized. When the propri- 
etor has no such room to keep back his pears, they 
must be marketed soon after gathering. There are 
so many fruit growers in this position, that every 
season there is a period with each leading variety, 
when it becomes a “drug in the market.” This is 
especially true of the Bartlett and the Duchesse 
d@Angouléme. Prices accordingly fall, at times when 
