Book IV. 



GATHERING AND PRESERVING. 



441 



deners, and English gardeners of the last century, are in favor of the practice, and those 

 of the present day are against it. 



2305. Knight's experience in preserving fruits, with the rationale of his practice, is given 

 in the following valuable extract: — 



Fruits which have grown upon standard-trees, in climates sufficiently warm and favorable to bring them 

 to maturity, are generally more firm in their texture, and more saccharine, and therefore more capable 

 of being long preserved sound, than such as have been produced by wall-trees ; and a dry and warm 

 atmosphere also operates very favorably to the preservation of fruits, under certain circumstances, but 

 under other circumstances, very injuriously : for the action of those elective attractions which occasion 

 the decay and decomposition of fruits, is suspended by the operation of different causes, in diflerent 

 fruits, and even in the same fruit, in different states of maturity. When a grape is growing upon the vine, 

 and till it has attained perfect maturity, it is obviously a living body, and its preservation dependent upon 

 the powers of life ; but when the same fruit has some time passed its state of perfect maturity, and has 

 begun to shrivel, the powers of life are probably no longer, or at most very feeble, in action ; and the 

 fVuit appears to be then preserved by the combined operation of its cellular texture, the antiseptic powers 

 of the saccharine matter it contains, and by the exclusion of air by its external skin ; for if that be de- 

 stroyed, it immediately perishes. If longer retained in a dry and warm temperature, the grape becomes 

 gradually converted into a raisin ; and its component parts are then only held in combination by the 

 ordinary laws of chemistry. 



A nonpareille apple or a catillac, a d'auch, or bergamotte de bugi pear, exhibits all the characters of a 

 living vegetable body long after it has been taken from the tree, and appears to possess all the powers of 

 other similar vegetable bodies, except that of growing, or vitally uniting to itself other matter ; and the 

 experiments which I shall proceed to state, prove that the pear is operated upon by external causes nearly 

 in the same manner after it has been detached from the tree, as when it remains vitally united to it. 



Most of the fine French pears, particularly the d'auch, are much subject, when cultivated in a cold and 

 unfavorable climate, to crack before they become full grown upon the trees, and, consequently, to decay 

 before their proper season or state of maturity ; and those which present these defects in my garden are 

 therefore always taken immediately from the trees to a vinery, in which a small fire is constantly kept in 

 winter, and they are there placed at a small distance over its flue. Thus circumstanced, a part of my 

 crop of auch pears ripen, and will perish, if not used, in November, when the remainder continue sound 

 and firm till March or April, or later ; and the same Vvarm temperature which preserves the grape in a 

 slightly shrivelled state, till January, rapidly accelerates the maturity, and consequent decay of the pear. 

 By gathering a part of my swan's egg pears early in the season (selecting such as are most advanced 

 towards matui-ity), and subjecting them, in the manner above mentioned, to artificial heat, and by retard- 

 ing the maturity of the later part of the produce of the same trees, I have often had that fruit upon my 

 table nearly in an equal state of perfection from the end of October to the beginning of February ; but the 

 most perfect, in every respect, nave been those which have been exposed in the vinery to light and arti- 

 ficial heat, as soon as gathered. 



2306. The most successful method of preserving pears and apples, which I have hitherto tried, lias been 

 placing them in glazed earthen vessels, each containing about a gallon (called, provincially, steens), and 

 surrounding each fruit with paper ; but it is probable that the chaff of oats, if free from moisture or any 

 offensive smell, might be used with advantage instead of paper, and with much less expense or trouble. 

 These vessels, being perfect cylinders, about a foot each in height, stand very conveniently upon each 

 other, and thus present the means of preserving a large quantity of fruit in a very small room ; 

 and if the spaces between the top of one vessel, and the base of another, be filled with a cement 

 composed of two parts of the curd of skimmed milk, and one of lime, by which the air will be 

 excluded, the later kinds of apples and pears will be preserved with little change in their appearance, 

 and without any danger of decay from October till February and March. A dry and cold situation, in 

 which there is little change of temperature, is the best for the vessels ; but I have found the merits of the 

 pears to be greatly increased by their being taken from the vessels about ten days before they were wanted 

 for use, and being kept in a warm room ; for warmth at this, as at other periods, accelerates the maturity 

 of the pear. The same agent accelerates its decay also ; and a warmer climate cannot contribute to the 

 superior success of the French gardeners ; which probably arises only from the circumstance of their fruit 

 being the produce of standard or espalier trees. 



2307. Preserving ripe fruit by retaining it on the tree, or on detached shoots. Some 

 fruits may be preserved through the winter by allowing them to hang on the tree in a 

 moderate climate, somewhat above the freezing point. Vines are sometimes so preserved ; 

 and Diel mentions that frequently on the nonpareil pippin, planted in pots, and kept under 

 glass, without any fire-heat, he has had the fruit hanging on the tree till the ripening of the 

 succeeding crop. Arkwright (Hort. Trans, vol. iii. 97.), by late forcing, retains plump 

 grapes on his vines till the beginning of May, and even later, till the maturity of his 

 early crops. In this way he gathers grapes every day in the year. By covering some 

 sorts gf cherry, plum, gooseberry, and currant trees, either on walls or as bushes, with 

 mats, the fruit of the red and white currant, and of the thicker-skinned goosebemes, 

 may be preserved to Christmas and later. Grapes, in the open air, may be preserved in 

 the same manner ; and peaches and nectarines may, in this way, be kept a fortnight hang- 

 ing on the trees after they are ripe. 



2308. Preserving ripe fruit in air-tight vessels, in a low temperature, is perhaps the most 

 effectual and certain mode, at least with the more hardy fruits. Apples and pears, placed 

 in jars or pipkins in which butter had been kept, have been closely sealed up, and placed 

 in a cellar, in a temperature never below 32°, and not exceeding 42", for a year, and 

 found in perfect order for eating. (Braddick, in Hort. Trans, vol. iii. ; Encyc. Brit. 

 Supp. art. Food.) 



2309. Preserving fruit, by gathering it before it is ripe, and then retarding its ripening. 

 Retarding the wasting or decay of fruit or vegetables gathered for use, is effected by 

 burying them in boxes in. the soil, immersing them in deep wells, or, as already stated, 

 placing them in an ice-house, or an ice-cold room. Ripe peaches may thus be kept a week, 

 and other fruits longer ; pears, cauliflowers, salads, &c. preserved in a fresh state for 

 some days, and potatoes and other tubers and bulbs for a long period, both fresh and 

 without growing. 



