102 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 6. 
it is all times covered with a roller-blind, so that the fruit is 
kept in the dark. A little tire in the stove, air being freely 
admitted by the window at the same time in a dry day, is 
useful for speedily removing any damp which may arise 
1 from the fruit. 
The shelves, a a, have a layer of clean-drawn straw laid 
across them, and on this the fruit is placed singly. 
From a consideration of all the above details it may be 
inferred that if a fruit-room be built over a place where 
there is a free circulation of air, its roof double ceiled, the 
walls lined with wood, a cavity being left between these two, 
it will possess the essential properties of the one under 
consideration. 
The more important principles necessary to attend to with 
regard to the long keeping of fruit are uniformity of tem¬ 
perature, coolness, and darkness. 
If tho temperature is uniform, there can be little or no 
deposition of moisture on the surface of the fruit; but if 
the air of the room should be, say ten degrees warmer than 
the fruit, then the relative coldness of the latter will cause 
a condensation of the moisture contained in the air in con¬ 
tact with the fruit, just as a cold glass becomes dewed over 
when brought into a warm atmosphere. If the air is indeed 
very dry, then a proportionably greater difference of tem¬ 
perature is necessary to produce the above effect; but in 
winter the hygrometer seldom requires to be cooled more 
: than a few degrees before it indicates a deposition of 
moisture. Fruits with smooth, glossy skins, in close con¬ 
tact with the cold substance beneath them, are those most 
profusely covered with moisture from the above cause. In 
russeted varieties their dry, rough coats serve as non-con¬ 
ductors of heat, and hence less moisture is deposited on 
them. When the air beoomes colder than the fruit, a 
contrary action—that of evaporation—takes place, and the 
surface of the fruit becomes dry. But this wetting and 
drying must prove very injurious; whilst its cause, alter¬ 
nations of temperature, must likewise affect the specific 
gravity of the juices of the fruit. Mr. Moorman’s fruit is 
not exposed to such vicissitudes; for when the weather 
becomes frosty, it is several days before the thermometer in 
his fruit-room is affected as much as one degree. 
It may be remarked that in giving air a period of the day 
should be chosen when the thermometer outside indicates 
I the same temperature as that in the room. No deposition 
of moisture can then take place in consequence. 
1 With regard to coolness, it is well known that this condition 
is favourable to the long-keeping of fruit; for we act on the 
contrary when we wish to render any variety fit for use 
before its usual time. The fruit-room in question must he 
cooler on an average than if it had been on the ground; 
for the latter, under a building particularly, is much warmer 
I than the air in winter. 
Light accelerates the maturity and ultimate decay of fruit 
exposed to its influence. If the soundest specimens are 
picked and placed opposite a window, they soon become 
much inferior in appearance compared with those from 
which the light is excluded, all other circumstances being 
the same. In Mr. Moorman’s fruit-room the light is ex¬ 
cluded by a blind even when air is given. 
By such arrangements as those above detailed, Mr. Moor¬ 
man keeps the Marie Lousie in fine condition till after 
Christmas. He possesses a selection of the best varieties 
of Pears, which he grows chiefly on espaliers, which are 
well managed by his gardener, Mr. Tucker, in the Clapham- 
road. He had some remarkably handsome specimens of 
j the Winter Nelis in his fruit-room in January, much larger 
than that excellent variety usually grows. We have also 
seen very large specimens of the Marie Louise, grown at 
his seat at Box Hill, in Sussex. The tree which produced 
them is trained against the gable end of a barn, about a 
quarter-of-a-mile from the sea, and this tree is exposed to 
the strong sea-breezes from the south-west. It was planted 
in good soil, and a spring below it was discovered when 
digging the hole for the compost previous to the tree being 
planted. —Journal of Horticultural Society. 
William Stephens, Esq. —We regret having to re¬ 
cord the death of this liberal patron of gardening. He 
died at his residence, near Reading, on the 20th of April. 
GARDEN HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 
DELPHINIUM. 
To those who cultivate hardy plants, either for exhibition 
or decorating the beds of their flower-garden, few are better 
adapted, or more generally admired, than the numerous 
varieties of Delphinium. 
Our first acquaintance with this genus reminds us only 
of several strong-growing species more suitable for the 
shrubbery than the flower-border, but the decided improve¬ 
ment on the newer varieties places them in a position 
amongst our very best herbaceous plants. 
They are all of easy cultivation, requiring no peculiar soil 
or situation to develop their beauty, but if grown as bedding 
plants, they should be divided into small pieces about the 
end of March, in order to prolong their season of bloom. 
W e have found Maynificum one of the best for this purpose, 
and if treated as we describe, will continue to flower in pro- ! 
| fusion from the beginning of July to the end of September. 
When cultivated as border plants, we would recommend 
them to be taken up and divided every second year, to 
prevent them from getting too tall and coarse. 
Many varieties have appeared in nursery lists, most of 
which we have cultivated, and found the following worthy 
of our recommendation:— 
D. Barlowii.— Stems averaging from three to four feet 
high ; spikes eighteen to twenty-four inches; flowers deep 
blue, semi-double. 
D. Beaute de Charonne. —Stems about two feet high; 
flowers single, bright blue, large and showy. 
D. elatum album. —Stems four to five feet high ; flowers 
blue, with white centre ; smaller than Mesoteucum, which it 
otherwise resembles. 
D. elatum plenum. —This is also a tall variety; spike of 
flowers often three feet long, dark blue, semi-double. 
D. eormosum. —A new variety sent out last autumn, ap¬ 
parently in the way of Hendersonii. The flowers seemed to 
us somewhat larger. It is said, also, to produce better 
spikes. 
D. grandiflobum maximum. — Stems four feet high ; 
spikes long ; flower deep blue, double. A noble and striking 
plant when well grown. 
D. Hendersonii.— Stems three feet or more high; flowers 
large, single; petals of the true variety broader than in 
Maynificum, of darker blue, and duller white centre. 
D. Hulmii. — Stems one-foot-and-a-half high, dividing 
into numerous branches; flowers deep blue, double; very 
distinct. 
D. HYBRiDUM FLORE PLENUM.—Stems three to four feet 
high, bearing beautiful spikes of bright blue, very double 
flowers. Distinct from all others, and in our estimation one 
of the best. 
D. magnificum. —In general habit similar to Hendersonii, 
but with flowers lighter blue, narrower under petals, and 
whiter centre. • 
D. mesoleucum. —Stems about four feet high ; flowers 
dark blue, with white centre. Very attractive. 
D. Moorii. —Stems about four feet; flowers single, dark 
blue. 
D. Wheelerii. —Stems three feet high, strong and erect; 
flowers light blue; spike dense and compact.— James Bae, 
Edinburgh. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
GARDENING. 
PRESERVING STORE FRUIT. 
“ Fruit-eaters, like myself, who find difficulty in supplying 
their wants from May to Strawberry-time, would feel obliged 
by a detail of the method adopted by Mr. McEwen, for 
keeping Pears and Apples, to which you refer in your 
number of the 15th, in reporting the proceeding of the 
romological Society. 
“ By packing in sand, or dry sawdust, Apples keep well 
enough with me, but they not only lose their flavour, but 
absorb so much of that of the material they are packed in, 
as to make them thoroughly distasteful. 
“ A few hiuts as to the fitting up of a fruit-room will be 
acceptable, when you have time and space for it. Is a dry 
