PEESERVATION OF FETJITS. 



359 



dry moss and paper tliat separate them, absorb any mois- 

 tm-e ; and if one decays it does not affect others. 



Some of the Paris confectioners and restaurant keepers 

 preserve fruits very successfully in barrels, packed in lay- 

 ers, and the interstices filled up with powdered charcoal. 

 The baiTels are kept in a dry, cool place, about forty 

 degrees, where they are not subjected to changes of tem- 

 peratm-e. Apjjles, pears, grapes, almonds, nuts, and pota- 

 toes, are all preserved in this manner. 



F-mit Rooms. — A fruit room is ' a structure set apart 

 exclusively for the preservation of fruit. Its great requi- 

 sites are, perfect security from moisture or dampness, ex- 

 clusion from light, and a uniform temperature. If these 

 points are obtained, no matter where, how, or of what 

 material the fruit room be constructed. It may be built 

 of stone, brick, clay, or wood, above or below ground, as 

 circumstanoes or taste may dictate. 



A good, dry, and cool cellar, is as good a place for 

 keeping fruit in as can be provided ; but the great objec- 

 tion to cellars used for other purposes is, that currents of 

 air are frequently admitted, and too much light, by which 

 the temperature is changed, decay promoted, or the fruits 

 dried and shrivelled. There are, also, other objects that 

 miavoidably satm-ate the air more or less with moisture. 



Where a fruit room is built on the surface of the ground, 

 it should be on the ice-house principle of double walls and 

 doors, to prevent access of either heat or cold from with- 

 out. A good cellar or cave, built in a dry, sandy, or 

 gravelly bank, or side hill, will answer every purpose. 

 The walls may be of stone, brick, or timber ; the roof should 

 be thick, with a slope sufficient to throw off water freely, 

 and the earth about should also be so graded that water 

 will flow away as fast as it falls. Provision may be 

 made for lighting and ventilating in the roof,' and the 

 door or doors should be double. 



