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produced on land which is the most dunged and worked. Therefore 1 would advise trenching the 
ground about the fruit-trees very well every winter, for I am sure they will find it answer their 
expectations who shall practise this method. And where the ground in the quarters is well dressed 
and trenched, the fruit-trees will partake of the benefit; for as the trees advance in their growth, 
their roots are extended to a great distance from their stems; and it is chiefly from the distant roots 
that the trees are supplied with their nourishment: therefore dressing the borders only, will not be 
sufficient for fruit-trees which are old. 
In gathering of Pears, great regard should be had to the bud which is formed at the bottom of 
the foot-stalk, for the next year’s blossoms; which, by forcing off the Pear before it be mature, is 
many times spoiled; for while the fruit is growing, there is always a bud formed by the side of the 
foot-stalk upon the same spur, for the next year’s fruit; but when the Pears are ripe, if they are 
gently turned upward, the foot-stalk will readily part from the spur, without injuring the bud. 
The season for gathering all Summer Pears is just as they ripen, for none of these will remain 
good above a day or two after they are taken from the tree; nor will many of the Autumn Pears 
keep good above ten days or a fortnight after they are gathered. But the winter fruits should hang 
as long upon the trees as the season will permit; for they must not receive frost, which will cause 
them to rot, and render their juices flat and ill tasted; but if the weather continue mild until the end 
of October, it will then be a good season for gathering them in, which must always be done in dry 
weather, and when the trees are perfectly dry. 
In doing this you ought carefully to avoid bruising them, therefore you should have a broad flat 
basket to lay them in as they are gathered; and when they are carried into the store-room, they 
should be taken out singly, and each sort laid up in a close heap on a dry place, in order to sweat, 
where they may remain for ten days or a fortnight; during which time the windows should be open 
to admit the air, in order to carry off all the moisture which is perspired from the fruit: after this, 
the Pears should be taken singly, and wiped dry with a woollen cloth, and then packed up in close 
baskets, observing to put some Wheat straw in the bottoms, and round the sides of the baskets, to 
prevent their bruising against the baskets. And if some thick soft paper is laid double or treble all 
round the basket, between the straw and the Pears, this will prevent the Pears from imbibing the 
musty taste which is communicated to them by the straw, when they are contiguous; which taste 
often penetrates through the skin so strongly, that when the fruit is pared, the taste will remain. 
You should also observe to put but one sort of fruit into a basket, lest by their different fermenta¬ 
tions, they should rot each other; but if you have enough of one sort to fill a basket which holds two 
or three bushels, it will be still better. After you have filled the baskets, you must cover them over 
with Wheat straw very close, first laying a covering of paper two or three times double over the 
fruit, and fasten them down; then place these baskets in a close room, where they may be kept dry 
and from frost; but the less air is let into the room, the better the fruit will keep. It will be very 
necessary to fix a label to each basket, denoting the sort of fruit therein contained, which will save 
the trouble of opening them, whenever you want to know the sorts of fruit; besides, they ought not 
to be opened before their season to be eaten, for the oftener they are opened and exposed to the air, 
the worse they will keep. I do not doubt but this will be objected to by many who imagine fruit 
cannot be laid too thin; for which reason, they make shelves to dispose them singly upon, and are 
very fond of admitting fresh air, whenever the weather is mild, supposing it very necessary to pre¬ 
serve the fruit; but the contrary of this is found true by those persons who have large stocks of fruit 
laid up in their store-houses in London, which remain closely shut up for several months, in the 
manner before related; and when these are opened, the fruit is always found plumper and sounder 
than any of those fruits which were preserved singly upon shelves, whose skins are always shrivelled 
