438 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



[Oci. 



ladders, can be as easily and nearly as soon done as if shaken 

 down by force, and half of them spoiled. The expense ot 

 gathering them in this way will be more than defrayed by 

 saving the fruit from bruises. When they are gathered from 

 the tree, they should be carried into the fruit-room, and care- 

 fully ai-ranged on the several shelves. The gathering of these 

 fruits should be confined to the middle part of the day, when 

 all damp is dissipated. Examine the trees several times before 

 the operation commences, to determine that all the dew or wet 

 is off the leaves, as well as the fruit. Where the quantity ot 

 fruit is considerable, it will be impossible to spread it all out 

 on shelves, neither is there any necessity for so doinf^. All 

 the more common and less valuable sorts, chiefly preserved for 

 culinary purposes, may, when carefully gathered, be removed 

 to the fruit-room, and laid up in heaps to sweat. This prac- 

 tice is not generally advocated in this century, but the most 

 scientific liorticulturists of the last adopted it with success, 

 and we can see no reasonable objection to its being done to 

 such fruits, at least, as are designed for the kitchen. By thus 

 sweating them a little, a quantity of moisture is thereby got 

 rid of, which is, probably, no detriment to the fruit, and must 

 certainly contribute to its keeping. 



After the fruit has remained to sweat for a few days, it 

 should be carefully examined, and all wiped quite dry with a 

 cloth, and laid out thinly for a few hours to dry still more 

 e{fectually, then they should be packed in boxes or hampers, 

 with clean meadow hay, free from must or bad smell, and each 

 sort kept by itself, as they will not all keep equally well. The 

 quantity of hay should be no more than just sufficient to pre- 

 vent each layer of fruit touching each other ; and when the 

 box or hamper is full, let it be correctly labeled with the name, 

 and time to which it is supposed to keep, and then the boxes 

 or hampers should be packed close up to prevent confusion, 

 the later kinds nearest the ground, and those that will be first 

 ready for use on the top. These ought to be examined through 

 the winter, and taken out, and any decayed ones removed, and 

 the whole wiped clean and repacked again, observing to dry 

 the hay, if at all damp, before using it a second time, or sub- 

 stituting sweet fresh hay in preference. The boxes are to be 



