The finer large kinds of pears should not be allowed to touch one another, but should be laid single and distinct. Apples, and all kinds of pears, should be laid thin; never tier above tier, which causes them to sweat, and undergo a kind of fermentation, which renders them mealy. A great deal of the preservation of summer fruit depends on the manner of gathering them. After having prepared the fruit-room, a fine day is to be chosen, and, if possible, after two or three preceding days of dry weather, and about two in the afternoon the fruit is to be gathered, and deposited in baskets of a moderate size, taking care that none of it receive any bruise or blemish, for the injured part soon rots and spoils the sound fruit in contact with it. As the summer fruits ripen more quickly after they are pulled, only a few days’ consumption should be gathered at once. Autumn apples and pears should be gathered about eight days before they are ripe, and indeed some kinds never become fit for eating on the tree. If they have been necessarily gathered in wet weather, or early in the morning, they should be exposed a day to the sun to dry, and they should on no account be wiped, which rubs off the _bloom_, as it is called, which, when allowed to dry, on some fruits, constitutes a natural varnish, closing up the pores, and preventing the evaporation of the juices. Fine pears may be preserved by passing a thread through the stack, and having sealed up the end of the stack with a drop of sealing wax, to hang them up separately in a cone of paper, suspended by the thread. _Grapes_ keep much better when hanging than when laid upon a table, and it is advisable also to seal the cut end with a drop of sealing wax; or they may be hung by the stack, or by the point of the bunch, as the grapes are thus less pressed against each other; but it is in both cases necessary to visit them from time to time, and to cut off with a pair of scissors every berry that is mouldy or spoiled. More artificial modes of preserving grapes in a succulent state are sometimes used, and become necessary for their transportation to distant countries. They are often packed with bran and saw dust. If intended for transportation they should not be quite ripe. The principal requisites of a good fruit room are great dryness and equality of temperature, and the power of excluding light. It should be furnished with a number of shallow trays, supported on a rack or stand one above another. It should have openings to admit fresh air during fine weather. It should be warmed during frost. PRESERVATION OF RECENT ESCULENT ROOTS, POT-HERBS, AND OTHER CULINARY VEGETABLES.