MANAGEMENT OF THE FRUIT-ROOM. 



675 



little sulphate of iron, lime, and water, which 

 remove the oxygen of the air. Fremy found 

 that the ripening of the fruit was arrested by 

 covering it with varnish, which he supposes to 

 act partly by preventing the access of air, and 

 partly by stopping the transpiration, and thus 

 checking the flow of sap from the fruit. This 

 we have found to be the case, both in retarding 

 the ripening of the Juneating, one of our ear- 

 liest apples, while on the tree, and also for pro- 

 longing the keeping of the Ribston, one of our 

 medium keeping apples, by coating them, in both 

 cases, over with gum-arabic, a gum easily dis- 

 solved and removed from the fruit. 



Besides the keeping of apples and pears, there 

 are other fruits that require the aid of a well- 

 regulated fruit-room. When pines come in 

 more rapidly than desired, or when it may be 

 desirable to retard their ripening for several 

 weeks, which is frequently the case, the plants 

 should be removed carefully while in the pots, 

 after they have attained their full size and 

 are about to change colour, their leaves tied up, 

 both to economise space, and also to prevent 

 their being broken ; and if set in the fruit-room, 

 and kept moderately dry and dark, they will 

 keep in excellent order three or four weeks. 

 When it is desirable that they should ripen, 

 they should be again transferred to the fruiting- 

 house, and plunged and tended as before their 

 removal ; or, still better, as practised at one 

 time by Mr Barron, be placed at one end of 

 the stove, which might be separated from the 

 general part of the house by a glass partition, 

 and in which a high temperature, depending, 

 however, chiefly on solar heat, might be kept 

 up during the day, and the plants so placed as 

 to be as close to the glass roof as possible. 

 They also should be freely exposed to the sun 

 and light, and neither water nor bottom heat 

 whatever applied to them ; the natural sap in 

 the plant supplies the scanty amount of nutri- 

 ment required, the warmth and light of the 

 sun giving the fruit its fullest amount of flavour. 



Melons cut a day or two before becoming 

 ripe will keep a week in a cool dark fruit-room, 

 and will have both colour and flavour imparted 

 to them if suspended in a netting bag for a day 

 or two, placed close under the glass in a dry 

 warm atmosphere. There are sorts, however, 

 that may be kept for weeks with little trouble 

 or care, but the majority of the finer sorts should 

 be eaten the day they are removed from the 

 plant, unless when grown on damp dung-beds, 

 imperfectly exposed to light, and as imperfectly 

 ventilated, a mode of gi*owing this excellent 

 fruit we wish to see completely exploded. 



Grapes. — Under the head Retarding crops of 

 ripe grapes we have alluded to Speechley's 

 mode of preserving this fruit when cut from the 

 vines, and also given the ingenious method pur- 

 sued by Mr Lavanchy, as stated by him in 

 " Cottage Gardener " {which see). Forsyth, and 

 sundry writers since Speechley's time, recom- 

 mend removing the bunch having attached to it 

 a portion of the shoot on which it has been pro- 

 duced, to the extent of a joint or more below 

 each bunch, all, however, with his exception, 

 recommending, and very properly, that the fruit 



be thoroughly ripened before its removal. The 

 lower end of the shoot should be cut smooth, 

 and hot sealing-wax or pitch applied to it, so as 

 to seal the wood closely that no air can enter 

 the tissues connecting with the bunch. If the 

 shoot, for convenience sake, be cut over above 

 the fruit, then the same process of sealing should 

 take place. The bunches thus prepared are sus- 

 pended from laths or lines run across the fruit- 

 room, taking care that the bunches do not touch 

 each other, and also that they be frequently 

 examined, and any decaying berries instantly 

 removed. A cool moderately- ventilated atmos- 

 phere is the best, and darkness, for reasons 

 already given, is a necessary condition towards 

 success. Grapes are often preserved by sealing 

 the end of the fruit-stalk when cut, and enclos- 

 ing the bunch in paper bags, and sometimes in 

 bags made of fine cotton, tying the mouths of 

 the bags tightly, and suspending them from the 

 roof of the room. In the former of these eva- 

 poration is checked, and the carbonic acid which 

 is generated by the fruit is prevented from 

 escaping. In using bags, they should be large 

 enough to slip easily off and on, as it is neces- 

 sary to examine the fruit frequently. The gene- 

 ral fruit-room, stocked with apples and pears, is 

 much too damp an atmosphere for keeping 

 grapes; it is, therefore, better to place them in 

 a separate apartment, but at the same time in 

 one where the temperature is uniform, and 

 neither too hot nor too cold. Grapes are also 

 kept in jars, being first enveloped in fine soft 

 paper, and afterwards packed round with dry 

 sand, bran, or paper shavings. These jars, if 

 carefully stopped at top, may be placed on the 

 floor of the fruit-room or otherwise, as most 

 convenient. 



Vines grown in pots readily present the means 

 of keeping the fruit in a very perfect state much 

 longer than any of the means hitherto recom- 

 mended. When the grapes are thoroughly rip- 

 ened, the plants should be removed from the 

 vinery, and placed in a dry well-ventilated room, 

 with a minimum temperature of 55°, and maxi- 

 mum of 60°. It is also important, as in the 

 case of all other fruits, that light be completely 

 excluded; the leaves will soon fall off, and the 

 fruit will draw its limited requirement of sup- 

 port from the remaining sap contained in the 

 plant : this, with the diminished evaporation 

 from the surface of the berries, will maintain 

 them in a fine plump state for two months or 

 more. 



In America, the grape is preserved in great 

 quantities for winter use, by packing them away, 

 as soon as ripe, in jars, boxes, or barrels, between 

 layers of cotton wadding, in which way they are 

 kept plump and fresh till March. 



Peaches, nectarines, and apricots, from their 

 nature, are not capable of being long kept with- 

 out losing much of their flavour, as is the case 

 with much of the fruit imported, and even sent 

 from distant parts of the country to the London 

 or other markets. To insure safety during tran- 

 sit, they are gathered before they are ripe; and 

 although they soften and colour somewhat ap- 

 proaching their natural state, still their ripening, 

 or rather their softening, taking place in the 



