440 



SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 



Part II. 



shelves, when in large quantities, and of baking <jualities ; but the better sorts of apples 

 and petu-s are now preserved insets of drawers {fig' 279.), sometimes spread out in 

 them, at other times wrapt up in papers ; or placed in pots, cylindrical earthen vessels, 

 among sand, moss, paper, chaff, hay, sawdust, &c. or sealed up in air-tight jars or casks, 

 and placed in the fruit-cellar. ( 1 704. ) The finest pears, as the cressannes and chaumon- 

 telles, should have tlieir footstalks previously tipped with sealing-wax, as practised in 

 France and the isles of Jersey and Guernsey. 



2299. Hitt's method of keeping pears may be here mentioned. Having prepared a 

 number of earthenware jars, and a quantity of dry moss (different species of hypnum 

 and sphagnum), he placed a layer of moss and of pears alternately till the jar was 

 filled ; a plug w^as then inserted, and sealed round with melted rosin. These jars were 

 sunk in dry sand to the depth of a foot ; preferring a deep cellar for keeping them to 

 any fruit-room. 



2300. Miller, after sweating and wiping pears, in which operations he says great care 

 must be taken not to bruise the fruit, packs them in close baskets, having some wheat- 

 straw in the bottom and around the sides to prevent bruising, and a lining of thick soft 

 paper to hinder the musty flavor of the straw from infecting the fruit. Only one 

 kind of fruit is put in each basket, as the process of maturation is more or less rapid 

 in differing kinds. A covering of paper and straw is fixed on the top, and the basket 

 is then deposited in a &iry room, secure against the access of frost, " and the less air 

 is let into the room, the better the fruit will keep." A label should be attached to each 

 basket, denoting the kind of fruit j for the basket is not to be opened till the fruit be 

 wanted for use. 



2301. James Steivart preserves his choice apples and pears in glazed earthenware jars, 

 provided with tops or covers. In the bottom of the jars, and between each layer of fruit, 

 he puts some pure pit-sand, which has been thoroughly dried on a flue. The jars are 

 kept in a dry airy situation, as cool as possible, but secure from frost. A label on the 

 jar indicates the kind of fruit ; and when this is wanted or ought to be used, it is taken 

 from the jars, and placed for some time on the shelves of the fruit-room. The less ripe 

 fruit is sometimes restored to the jars, but with newly dried sand. In this way he pre- 

 serves colmars and other fine French pears till April ; the terling till June ; and many 

 kinds of apples till July, the skin remaining smooth and plump. Others who also em- 

 ploy earthenware jars, wrap each fruit in paper, and, in place of sand, use bran. 

 {Ed. Encyc. art. Hort.) 



2302. Ingram, at Torry, in Scotland, finds that for winter pears two apartments are 

 requisite, a colder and a wanner ; but the former, though cold, must be free from damp. 

 From it the fruit is brought into the Avarmer room, as wanted ; and by means of increased 

 temperature, maturation is promoted, and the fruit rendered delicious and mellow. 

 Chaumontelles, for example, are placed in close drawers, so near to a stove, that the tem- 

 perature may constantly be between 60° and 70^ Falir. For most kinds of fruit, how- 

 ever, a temperature equal to 55° is found sufficient. The degree of heat is accurately 

 determined by keeping small thermometers in several of the fruit-drawers, at different 

 distances from the stove. The drawers are about six inches deep, three feet long, and 

 two broad ; they are made of hard wood, fir being apt to spoil the flavor of the fruit. 

 They are frequently examined in order to give air^ and to observe the state of the fruit, it 

 being wiped when necessary. Ingram remarks, that, in Scotland particularly, late 

 pears should have as much of the tree as possible, even although some frost should 

 supervene ; such as ripen freely, on the other hand, are plucked rather before they reach 

 maturity. 



2303. Winter apj^les are laid in heaps, and covered with mats or straw, or short 

 or grass well dried. Here they lie for a fortnight or more, to sweat, as it is called, or 

 to discharge some of their juice ; after which the skin contracts in a ceilain degree. 

 They are next wiped dry with a woollen cloth, and placed in the fruit-room. Sometimes, 

 when intended for winter dessert fruit, they are made to undergo a farther sweating ; 

 and are again wiped and picked : they are then laid singly on the shelves, and covered 

 with paper. Here they are occasionally turned, and such as show any symptoms of decay 

 are immediately removed. 



2304. The sweating of fruit is entirely disapproved by some, who afllirm, that it thereby 

 acquires a bad flavor, or, at any rate, that the natural flavor of the fruit is deteriorated, 

 and that it gets dry and mealy. They consider it better to carry the fruit directly from 

 the tree, carefully avoiding all sort of bruising, and to lay it thinly on the shelves of the 

 fruit-room ; afterwards wiping each fruit, if necessary. The room, they say, should be 

 dry, and the only use that should be made of a stove, is to take off the damp. Such 

 is the prevailing practice at the present time. From what we have observed in tlie 

 practice of such as are successful in preserving bread corn, and other seeds, a<» acorns, 

 nuts, &c. we are inclined to think that sweating, by getting rid of a quantity of moisture, 

 must, to a certain extent, be a beneficial practice. Marshall, and rfiost French gar- 



