44 



STATi: POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



It is probable that a large proportion of all the difficulties with 

 apples in cold storage is due to delaying the storage of the fruit 

 after it is picked. This is especially true in hot weather, and in 

 fruit that comes from sections where the autumn months are 

 usually hot. If the fruit is delayed in piles in the orchard, or 

 in piles or in packages in closed buildings where the ventilation 

 is poor, if transportation is delayed, or the fruit is detained at 

 the terminal point, the ripening progresses rapidly and the fruit 

 may already be near the point of deterioration or may even 

 have commenced to deteriorate from scald or mellowness or 

 decay when the storage house is reached. On the contrary, if 

 the picking season is cool, a delay during a similar period of time 

 might cause no serious injury to the keeping quality. 



Delaying the storage of the fruit in warm weather increases 

 its susceptibility to scald. The follo.ving table brings out the 

 injury that may be caused by delaying the storage of fruit in 

 hot weather. In this particular case the mean average tempera- 

 ture between September 15-30, 1902, was about 62° F. Fruit 

 picked from the same trees in October and stored two weeks 

 later when the temperature was about 53° F. was not injured 

 by the delay. 



SCALD ON IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED STORED APPLES IN FEB., 1903. 



From the standpoint of the orchardist or apple dealer who 

 cannot secure quick transportation to a distant warehouse, or 

 who cannot obtain refrigerator cars, or who is geographically 

 situated where the weather is usually warm in apple picking 

 time, the local storage plant in which the fruit can be stored at 

 once and distributed in cool weather, offers important advan- 

 tages. 



