228 



GATHERING AND PRESERVATION 



flannel, the fruit must be placed upon the shelves, each 

 half an inch apart, keeping the varieties separate. 



When the fruits are thus disposed of, the doors and 

 openings must be left open during the day, at least 

 when the weather is not too damp. Eight more days 

 of exposure to the air are necessary, in order to allow 

 the superabundant moisture to evaporate. Afterwards 

 all the openings must be hermetically closed, and only 

 opened when required to take out the fruit. No means, 

 except currents of air, have at the present time been 

 employed to remove dampness from the fruit-house 

 caused by the sweating of the fruit after it has been 

 stored. There are serious objections to the use of air 

 currents for this object. It subjects the fruit-house to 

 great changes of temperature, which are very injurious, 

 and to alternate light and darkness, which hasten 

 maturity. The plan can only be adopted in dry 

 weather and during the absence of frost ; that is, it 

 cannot be practised throughout a great part of every 

 winter, and the fruit-house must be left in its damp 

 state, to the injury of the fruit. 



To avoid this, we recommend the use of chloride of 

 calcium. This salt has the property of absorbing so 

 large a quantity of moisture (about double its own 

 weight) that it becomes liquid after being exposed 

 for a certain time to the influence of a moist atmo- 

 sphere. We can, therefore, see that if a sufficient 

 quantity be introduced into the fruit-house, it will 

 absorb the dampness exhaled by the fruit. Quicklime 

 answers nearly the same purpose. 



The chloride of calcium, F, should be placed in a kind 



