204 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



being gathered ; but after this time the more securely they are 

 kept from the air and draughts the better they will keep. 

 Apples too are best kept from the light, and darkness does not 

 interfere with their colouring after being stored. The fruit-room 

 should be constructed so that it can be kept perfectly frost-proof. 

 Apples keep best just above but never below freezing point. A 

 store to answer these requirements can be made in several ways, 

 one of which is by making your room with double walls, double 

 windows, and doors. The frost will not pass between two such 

 walls, even if thin, as the air between effectually stops it ; but 

 great care must be taken in constructing such a room that the 

 inner wall does not touch the outer at any point, or the 

 frost will enter at that point. This construction is for 

 a store-room above ground. Or the fruit-room can be con- 

 structed half under ground, the chief drawback to this being 

 a little more difficulty in ventilation. It is also better if 

 the room has a rather damp atmosphere, so that it is not 

 actually wet. A good model of a high-class fruit-room is the 

 well-known one in the nurseries of Messrs. Geo. Bunyard & Co. 

 This is built above ground, is of wood, and is thickly thatched, 

 has double doors, windows with shutters, ventilation being in 

 the apex of the roof, and it is fitted with shelves : the cost, it is 

 stated, was about .£30. A full description how to make a similar 

 store was published by Mr. Bunyard in the Boyal Horticultural 

 Society's Journal, vol. xviii. page 147, and the splendid collection 

 of fruit shown by his firm at the Temple Show in May last, to which 

 a silver cup was awarded, had been kept in this room. My own 

 fruit-room was originally built for a silo, has concrete walls, is 

 half underground in the side of a bank, it has a packing-room 

 above, entered from the fruit-room by a trap-door, the two being 

 parted by a double ceiling to the fruit-room : this latter room is 

 entered by double doors. I can keep fruit in this room if required 

 fresh and plump until June, July, or later, and I had over forty 

 varieties in it in good condition last June, hot as that month 

 was. I have often had specimen fruit from two seasons in the 

 room at the same time, and can always find fruit to make a fair 

 display at the Royal Agricultural Society's Show held in June. 



The only drawback I find is a little difficulty in getting 

 sufficient early ventilation, but after the fruit has reached a 

 certain stage no trouble is experienced. If large quantities of 



