Book I. 



PACKING FRUITS FOR CARRIAGE. 



501 



them good till the latter end of April. Before you send them to table, wipe the sand clean ofF; and. if 

 you find that they have become shrivelled, steep them in milk and water for six or eight hours before they 

 are used ; this will make them plump and fine, and cause them to peel easily." 



2657. The chestnut is to be treated like the walnut, after the husk is removed, which, in the chestnut, 

 opens of itself Knight {Hor. Tr. i. p. 247.) preserves chestnuts and walnuts during the whole winter, 

 by covering them with earth as cottagers do potatoes. 



2638. Filberts may always be gathered by hand, and should afterwards be treated as recommended for 

 walnuts, Forsyth recommends packing nuts, intended for keeping, in jars or boxes of dry sand. 



2639. Other fruits. The barben^y and cornel, or dog-wood berry, are used immediately, 

 when gathered, as preserves. The medlar is not good till rotten ripe. It is gene- 

 rally gathered in the beginning of November, and placed between two layers of straw, to 

 forward its maturation. " Others," Marshall observes, " put medlars in a box on a three- 

 inch layer of fresh bran, moistened well with soft warm water ; then strew a layer of 

 straw between them, and cover with fruit two inches thick ; which moisten also, ljut not 

 so wet as before." In a week or ten days after this operation, they will be fit for use. 

 Quinces are gathered in November, when they are generally ripe. After sweating in 

 a heap for a few days, they are to be wiped dry, and placed on the fruit-shelf at some 

 distance from each other. The service, or sorb apple, never ripens on the tree in Eng- 

 land. Where grown, it is gathered late in autumn, in a very austere state, and laid on 

 wheat-straw to decay. It thus becomes eatable in a month. 



Sect. IV. Of packi?ig Orchard and other Fruits for Carriage. 



2640. In packing fruit to be sent to a considerable distance, great care is requisite. It 

 should not, Forsyth observes, be packed in baskets, as they are liable to be bruised among 

 heavy luggage, and the fruit, of course, will be injured. I would, therefore, recommend 

 boxes made of strong deal, of different sizes, according to the quantity of fruit to be 

 packed. The following are the dimensions of the boxes in which we send fruit by the 

 coach to Windsor and Weymouth, for the use of his Majesty and the Royal Family ; 

 viz. : The larger box is two feet long, fourteen inches broad, and the same in depth. 

 The smaller box is one foot nine inches long, one foot broad, and the same depth. 

 These boxes are made of inch-deal, and well secured with three iron clamps at each 

 corner : they have two small iron handles, one at each end, by which they are fastened to 

 the roof of the coach ; in these boxes we send melons, currants, pears, peaches, nectarines, 

 plums and grapes, packed so as always to have the heaviest fruit at bottom. The melons 

 are wrapped up in soft paper : the pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, and grapes are first 

 wrapped up in vine-leaves, and then in paper. The cherries and currants are packed in 

 a flat tin box, one foot four inches long, ten inches broad, and four deep. 



2641. In packing, proceed thus : — First, put a layer of fine long dry moss in the bottom of the tin box, 

 then a layer of currants or cherries, then another layer of moss, and so on, alternately, fruit and moss, 

 until the box is so full, that, when the lid is hasped down, the fruit may be so firmly packed as to preserve 

 them from friction. Make a layer of fine moss and short, soft, dry grass, well mixed, in the bottom of the 

 deal box ; then pack in the melons with some of the same, packing it tight in between all the rows, and 

 also between the melons in the same row, till you have finished the layer ; choosing the fruit as nearly of 

 size as possible, filling up every interstice with the moss and grass. When the melons are packed, lay a 

 thin layer of moss and grass over them, upon which place the tin box with the currants, packing it firmly 

 all round with moss to prevent it from shaking ; then put a thin layer of moss over the box, and pack the 

 pears firmly (but so as not to bruise them) on that layer, in the same manner as the melons ; and so on 

 with the peaches, nectarines, plums, and lastly, the grapes, filling up the box with moss, that the lid may 

 shut down so tight as to prevent any friction among the fruit. The boxes should have locks, and two keys, 

 which may serve for them all ; each of the persons who pack and unpack the fruit having a key. The 

 moss and grass should always be returned in the boxes, which, with a little addition, will serve the 

 whole season, being shaken up and well aired after each journey, and keeping it sweet and clean. After 

 the wooden box is locked, it will be necessary to cord it firmly. My reason for being so particular on 

 packing of fruit is, that I have known instances of its being totally spoiled in the carriage from im- 

 proper packing. By pursuing the above metliod, we have never failed of success ; and if fruit be packed 

 according to the foregoing directions, it may be sent to the farthest parts of the kingdom, by coaches or 

 waggons, with perfect safety. 



2642. Miscellaneous points of orchard cidture. As in treating of kitchen-garden 

 culture, so here various lesser points of culture and management are omitted, which 

 the judicious gardener will not overlook in practice ; provided he has, or ought to have, 

 the whole art and science of gardening, as it were, stored up in his mind, and ready to 

 apply on every occasion. Among these points may be named the occasional grafting 

 of orchard-trees, with a view either to introduce new or preferable sorts, or to fill up 

 the head of a tree. Thinning out temporary trees ; introducing young trees in intervals 

 of old orchards to succeed the old ; guarding from thieves ; and a variety of other 

 matters, which circumstances will always suggest to the observing eye and fertile mind 

 of a gardener attached to his profession. Among these things, one of the first conse- 

 quence is attention to order and neatness. 



2643. In regard to neatness and order, see 2355. to 2373. ; and with respect to recent 

 improvements, which have not been fully sanctioned by extensive adoption, they have been 

 already enumerated in Part II. Book IV. On the Oi^erations of Gardening. 



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