ON PEAKS. 



349 



varieties that I consider the best for cooking ; they are Catiline, 

 Black Worcester, and Verulam. 



When to Gather the Fruit, and how best to store it. — I am 

 inclined to think that there is no gardening operation which 

 requires longer practice to attain proficiency than that of being 

 able to know when a Pear is ready to gather, as on the time 

 of gathering hinges in a large degree the quality of the fruit, 

 because, if harvested too soon, the fruit shrivels and never ripens 

 well, and if left on the trees long — particularly early varieties — 

 it becomes insipid. Hence the importance of every young 

 gardener learning by close observation the right time to harvest 

 Pears. It is said that there is no rule without exception, and I 

 suppose it is true as regards the gathering of Pears, though the 

 exceptions I know are few, and novices at Pear-gathering need 

 not therefore be afraid that they will get far wrong if, when 

 called upon to gather Pears, they adopt the following methods 

 to decide whether or no certain kinds are really lit to harvest : 

 Slightly raise the fruit — do not pull or use any force — and if by 

 this gentle heaving the fruit parts readily from the branch, 

 then they may with safety be gathered. Another test is to cut 

 open a fruit, examine the pips, and, if these are dark brown or 

 black, and firm to pressure, it is safe to gather. As a matter of 

 course, a dry day must be chosen for the work, and the fruits be 

 handled with the same care as if they were soft Peaches. As to 

 how best to store the fruit, I can only relate my own practice, 

 which has proved to be— I will not put it stronger than 

 moderately successful. Our fruit-room is built behind a high 

 wall, the aspect of it being due east. The walls are hollow 

 throughout — I perhaps ought to have said have an air cavity 

 between the outside and inside walls — consequently in damp 

 weather the room remains comparatively dry, in cold weather 

 warm, and in hot weather cool. It is ventilated, in chimney 

 fashion, through the roof, and air can be given or not at 

 pleasure. It is fitted throughout with shelves, or tables formed 

 with strips of wood, three inches wide, and between each strip is a 

 half-inch space, so that there is ample space for the escape of 

 any moisture that may be given off by the fruit ; and air has free 

 access— I have sometimes thought too free for long keeping — 

 hence the thin layer of clean wheaten straw, on which the fruit 

 is laid, in single layers should space admit of it, and on no 



