CXXX PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



check the ripening or decomposition, and it gives the fruit a 

 peculiar flavour. The Apples have a musty, coddled taste. With 

 the Plums the gas centres round the stones. In the Tomato 3 

 there is a sharp, forbidding, pungent taste throughout, which 

 leaves them after standing twenty-four hours in the air. I 

 allowed the gas to pass through the washing bottle into the tins, 

 the natural air escaping through a pipe. After the fresh air had 

 escaped (tested with a lighted match), I closed the latter pipe 

 and let the gas work itself dead slow. After giving them all a 

 good application (three dozen taking in both applications some six 

 hours) I went through them again, opening the escape pipe men- 

 tioned above to scour out. Then Ireclosed it with pliers. Before 

 closing the entrance pipe the gas had worked dead slow, the top 

 and bottom bulging out. The pressure at the gauge stood at 

 5 lbs. The water in the washing bottle was fresh boiled and 

 put into the washer (just bearable), being changed for every dozen 

 tins. I did not exhaust the air, and found with this test of a 

 week that the Tomatos were sweating equal to those kept for 

 over a fortnight after the air was exhausted. Some Coreopsis, 

 white Marguerites, and Nasturtiums were put under the same 

 process (August 23). The first kept well, and after being in 

 water looked none the worse ; the white of the Marguerites 

 turned to a pale chocolate beyond recovery, and the Nasturtiums 

 collapsed into a withered heap." Professor Church observed 

 that the failure might have been due to an insufficient time 

 having been allowed for the atmospheric air to diffuse. He added 

 that much carbonic acid had been proved to exist around Mangold 

 roots when turfed over, which undoubtedly acted as a pre- 

 servative. 



