J September 25.] 
I 
The genus Deutzia was named hy Thunberg, the 
Swedish botanical traveller, in his Flora Japonica, which 
appeared in 1784, to commemorate the name of John 
! Deutz, a Dutch naturalist. This species, gracilis, is a 
native of Japan, whence it was introduced first to the 
continent by Dr. Siebold, whose name has been long 
I associated with the Japan flora, and who, with Professor 
j Zuccarini, has produced a very fine work on the Japanese 
plants. According to Dr. Siebold’s account of Deutzia 
gracilis, it grows to six or seven feet high on its native 
hills, and no doubt it will attain that size, if not more, 
under cultivation. The genus is an Asiatic one, and 
belongs to the Natural Order Sg ring as (Philadelpheaoese), 
and to the third order of the tenth class in the system of 
Linnaeus, Decandria-Monogynia. 
Deutzia gracilis has long, flexible, and, generally, drooping 
branches; leaves between the wedge and spear-head-shape, 
finely toothed on the edge, and fine-haired on both surfaces; 
flowers white, in panicles or loose bunches at the end of the 
brandies ; calyx pitcher-shaped, petals bluntly reversed, egg- 
i shaped, rather hooded, and fine-haired on outer surface; 
| stamens in two rows, anthers yellow; styles three. B. J. 
THE FRUIT-GARDEN. 
Froit-room, Fruit-gathering, &c. —If the fruit-room 
has not been put in order already, it should be done im- 
I mediately. The first step is repairing; if any blemish 
occurs in the shelves, such must be safely repaired, for it 
is not an agreeable affair to have superior fruit rolling 
or falling from one shelf to another through the winter. 
Anything connected with the rest of the interior, also, 
must be repaired, if necessary; and now the walls may 
receive a coat or two of limewash. It is too late to talk of 
painting, if ever so requisite: such should be done in the 
months of June or July, in order to let all unpleasant 
odours pass away; nothing is more detrimental to the 
fine flavour and the aroma of fruits than fresh paint. 
As soon as these matters are carried out, the shelves 
should, if in any way dirty, be dry-swept as clean as pos¬ 
sible ; and then a damp cloth may be passed over them 
to extract any remaining impurities, depending more on 
what has been termed “ elbow grease,” than water, at 
this late period. This done, our practice is to burn a 
pan of sulphur in the room, in order to destroy, if pos¬ 
sible, the spores of fungi; but before this is done, the 
room should be made dry by thorough, ventilation for a 
few days, taking care to close the windows the moment 
the atmosphere becomes damp or rainy. In a week, 
with care, the room will be ready for the fruit; but, 
indeed, all these things, with the exception of the sul¬ 
phuring, ought to have been done long since. The very 
best plan is to carry out such proceedings the moment 
the last fruit can be removed in June. Nevertheless, 
as such rooms are generally used for the preserving or 
retarding of summer fruits, some amount of cleansing 
! is sure to be requisite. 
Most fruit-rooms are latticed, that is to say, the shelves 
are composed of parallel strips of wood, admitting air 
between; but we are not assured that this is the very 
best plan. We have known fruits keep excellently on 
solid shelves, with nothing but cap-paper beneath them; 
and as for placing fruits of any importance on the 
latticed shelves, without anything beneath, we do think 
there is room for objection. Various materials have 
been suggested to place under them, and kiln-dried 
straw has been strongly recommended. Whatever the 
! material be, it should be tolerably soft, but not too 
absorbent: thus, hay would be too soft, its particles 
395 
too fine, and it would, consequently, lay too close, 
and hold an amount of moisture which would soon tend 
to mouldiness; reeds, on the contrary, would be too 
coarse, and cause the fruit to roll about and be very 
inconvenient. Any material from the cereal tribes, 
therefore, should be somewhat intermediate in character; 
and we have pointed to hay, on the one hand, and to 
reeds on the other, as the two extreme points, and as 
suggestive of proper materials. 
Apples. —This season they are unusually abundant, 
and many persons will be puzzled as to what to do with 
them. Such we confess to be our case; and the best 
way, if a decent market-price could be realised, would 
be to sell all those which cannot be relied on for safe 
keeping. But to sell at Is. 4d. the bushel, the price we 
have been offered, is, to use a familiar and homely adage, 
rather “ against the grain.” We shall, therefore, wait 
a few weeks, or as long as we can, hoping for an ad¬ 
vance. Where there is such a pressure of fruit, that the 
usual fruit depot will not hold them by fair means, it is 
plain that some other provision must be made. Upper 
rooms, outhouses, &c., must be called in to our aid ; or, 
indeed, they may be pitted like potatoes: the latter 
plan, however, we would, if possible, avoid; for although 
apples may be kept longer fresh by such means, yet it 
is ever at the expense of flavour, at least such has been 
our experience. If any must be thus treated, we should 
say, let it be the spring kitchen-apples; but here we do 
not think it safe to put them in a pit until they have 
undergone the fermentation always consequent on piling 
quantities together when newly-gathered. Perhaps, 
then, it woidd he good policy, if need be, to pile such 
in a dry room, or shed—one, however, capable of a liberal 
ventilation—and to cover them for a short period with 
some thin material. When slightly sweated, they might 
be carefully spread over the floor to dry, and when 
thoroughly so, they might be pitted. The practice in 
former days was to wipe them all, after sweating, with 
dry cloths; but although such may be practicable with 
regard to superior dessert kinds, it will not pay to con¬ 
sume much labour over fruit at the price before quoted. 
In pitting, some caution must be exercised. We never 
practised it to any extent, and, therefore, cannot claim 
any weight for the advice offered; but of one thing we 
feel pretty well assured, that layers of straw, or some 
intervening body of a neutral character, should be in¬ 
troduced alternately with the apples; and here straw, 
severely kiln-dried, as being in that condition averse to 
absorption, would probably prove an excellent material. 
As sure as a large body is placed together early in the 
season, so sure will fermentation ensue, and thin-skinned 
fruits are not capable of enduring a great amount of 
this. We should say that three apples in depth is quite 
sufficient without a layer of straw. 
The outside of the pit should be so constructed as to 
permit an issue of steam, which will steadily, although 
imperceptibly, escape 'Those who have been accustomed 
to j^otatoes in pits will soon manage this part of the 
business. As for storing away apples in sheds, or any 
dry outhouses, this is not so particular an affair. They 
should not, however, be piled in huge heaps for fear of 
fermentation; however, all this depends on the amount 
of room available. If there be plenty of room, it will be 
well not to lay them above six to nine inches thick. 
There will be no occasion for straw, or other dry ma¬ 
terial, in this case; the only thing requisite will be to 
ventilate freely for about three weeks after housing, or 
until the sweating is over. 
And now, as to the housing the superior dessert 
apples. Here we must recommend single layers as far 
as practicable. Some arrangement is necessary when 
these are brought to the fruit-room. They should be so 
placed, as far as possible, as not to need moving for a 
length ®f time ; but where there is a great amount, as 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
