OPERATIONS OF GATHERING, ETC. 



401 



fruit in the n)iddle of July ; soon after which the pots were put under the 

 shade of a north wall in the open air. Being pruned, and removed in Sep- 

 tember to a south wall, they soon vegetated with much vigour, till the frost 

 destroyed their shoots. Others, which were not removed fi'om the north 

 wall till the following spring, when they were pruned and placed against a 

 south wall, ripened their fruit well in the following season in a climate 

 not nearly warm enough to have ripened it at all, if the plants had 

 previously grown in the open air. Peach-trees somewhat similarly treated 

 unfolded their blossoms nine days earlier, " and their fruit ripened three 

 weeks earlier than in other trees of the same varieties." (Hort. Trans. 

 vol. ii. p. 372.) Pots of grapes which had produced a crop previously to 

 Midsummer were placed under a north wall till autumn ; on the 12th of 

 January, they were put into a stove and ripened their fruit by the middle of 

 April. {Rort. Trans, vol. iv. p. 440.) 



§ XIX. Operations of Gathering.^ Preserving^ Keeping., and Packing. 



856. Gathering. — The productions of horticulture are in part enjoyed as 

 scenery, and in part as articles of cookery, and other parts of domestic 

 economy ; and the gathering of articles for the latter purposes forms a part 

 of the duty of the gardener. All crops are taken from the plant when 

 mature, as in the case of ripe fruits or roots ; or they are cut from it when 

 the plant is in a growing state, as in gathering herbs or cabbages ; or the 

 entire plant is taken up, as in the case of turnips, carrots, &c. In all these 

 cases the part of the plant to be gathered should not have been moistened 

 by rain, and the weather at the time should be dry. Wherever the knife 

 requires to be used in gathering, the operation may be considered as coming 

 under pruning, and should be performed with the same care in respect to 

 buds and wounded sections. In gathering fruit, care should be taken not 

 to rub off the bloom, particularly from cucumbers, plums, and grapes. 

 When ripe seeds are gathered, the capsules or pods should be perfectly dry, 

 and they should be spread out afterwards in a shaded, airy shed or loft, or 

 on a seed-sheet in the open air, till they are ready to be mbbed out, cleaned, 

 and put up into paper bags till wanted. 



857. Preserving. — Culinary vegetables may be preserved in a growing 

 state by placing moveable covers, such as thatched hurdles, over them in the 

 open garden, as indicated in fig. 329 ; or they may be preserved in a living 



state by planting them in soil, in 

 pits or frames, to be covered during 

 severe w^eather ; or they may be 

 planted in soil, in light cellars, the 

 windows being opened in the day- 

 time, — a practice common in the 

 colder countries of the Continent. 

 Aromatic herbs, such as mint, thyme, 

 &c., may be preserved by first dry- 

 ing them in the shade, and nextcom- 

 Fig. 329. Low-roof thatched hurdles for protecting pressing each kind into small packets, 

 'plants in the open garden. covering these with paper. Aro- 



matic herbs, and also pot-herbs, such as parsley, celery leaves, chervil, &c., 

 may be preserved by drying in an oven, and afterwards tying up in paper. 

 Flowers and leaves, and also ripe fruit, may be preserved in dried sand by 



