494 



MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN STRUCTURES. 



the bottom of the jars, and between each 

 layer of fruit, he put some pure pit-sand, 

 which had been thoroughly dried on a 

 flue. These jars were kept in a dry, airy 

 situation, as cool as possible, but secure 

 from frost. A label on the jar indicates 

 the kind of fruit ; and when this is wanted, 

 or ought to be used, it is taken from the 

 jars and placed for some time on the 

 shelves of the fruit-room. The less ripe 

 fruit is sometimes restored to the jars, 

 but with newly dried sand. In this way 

 he preserved Colmars, and other fine 

 French pears, till April, the Terling till 

 June, and many kinds of apples till July, 

 the skin continuing smooth and plump. 

 Although Mr Stewart's jars were placed 

 in an airy situation, the air could not 

 affect the fruit, as they were packed in 

 fine sand, and carefully covered at top — 

 in fact, as completely excluded from air 

 as Knight's were in similar vessels, and 

 having the spaces between the top of one 

 and the bottom of another filled with a 

 cement composed of two parts of the curd 

 of milk and one of lime. 



To those who have no proper fruit- 

 room beyond a dry, airy, cool apartment, 

 nothing can be better than packing their 

 best fruit at least in earthenware vessels, 

 either embedding the fruit in perfectly 

 dry sand or dry fern, or not, and then 

 packing the jars in dry casks, or in presses 

 fitted up on purpose — the use of these 

 latter being as much a safeguard against 

 petty pilfering as against the natural 

 decay of the fruit. An immense quantity 

 of fruit may thus be kept in little space ; 

 while the commoner kinds used for 

 kitchen purposes may safely be kept 

 packed in dry fern in boxes, and piled up 

 on top of each other. In such cases the 

 name of each fruit should be affixed to 

 the outside of the box, and, so far as 

 possible, only one kind should be placed 

 in each ; or if two sorts or more are in- 

 cluded, they should be assorted so that 

 the contents of each box shall be fit for 

 use at the same time. The best of all 

 media for packing fruit intended to be 

 kept to the latest period, is to place 

 each in a small canvass bag, tied tightly 

 at the mouth, and to embed them in dry 

 casks or earthenware jars, amongst char- 

 coal, not rendered too fine, or in well- 

 dried peat earth — both of these being 

 powerful antiseptics. 



Some have furnished their fruit-rooms 

 with shallow drawers, fitted into cases— 

 each drawer only deep enough to hold 

 one layer of large apples or pears, or two 

 of the smaller kinds. Such an arrangement 

 excludes air completely, as well as light, 

 and of course secures great uniformity of 

 temperature. The drawers are numbered 

 on the front, and a list according with 

 those numbers is hung up in the room. 

 For the finer kinds of fruit this is an 

 excellent plan ; but it could hardly be 

 carried out so as to contain the whole 

 produce of a large garden, and is attended 

 with very considerable expense. In an 

 article in the " Edinburgh Encyclopaedia " 

 it is recommended that the fruit-room 

 should consist of two apartments — a colder 

 and a warmer; but the former, though 

 cold, must be free from damp. From 

 this the fruit is brought into the warmer 

 room as it is wanted ; and by means of 

 increased temperature maturisation is 

 promoted, and the fruit rendered deli- 

 cious and mellow. Chaumontelles, for 

 example, are placed in close drawers so 

 near to a stove that the temperature may 

 be constantly between 60° and 7 0° Fahr. 

 For most kinds of fruit, however, a tem- 

 perature equal to 55° is found sufficient. 

 The drawers are about 6 inches deep, 3 

 feet long, and 2 broad. They are made 

 of hard wood, fir being apt to spoil the 

 flavour of the fruit. 



Fruit-rooms fitted up with shelves, if 

 not less than 18 inches apart, may have 

 fixed wires running longitudinally, to 

 which the finer specimens of pears may 

 be tied, so that they will hang in their 

 natural position, and very much econo- 

 mise space. Those apples which retain 

 their stalks may also be suspended in the 

 same manner. It is also an excellent 

 mode for hanging up late grapes, which, 

 when laid on their sides, soon mould and 

 decay. For preserving grapes, impera- 

 trice, or Coe's golden-drop plums, a much 

 drier atmosphere is required ; therefore 

 fruit-rooms are not the best place for the 

 purpose, but a closet or room consider- 

 ably elevated, which at the same time 

 may be rendered dark and pretty air- 

 tight. 



From all the foregoing opinions, it 

 would appear that the conditions requi- 

 site for the preservation of fruit — we 

 mean especially apples and pears — are, 



