134 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SUCCESS AND PAILUKE IN COLD STORAGE. 



SETH J. T. BUSH, MORTON^ N. Y. 



The Cold Storage business is of very great importance to the fruit 

 industry, but at the same time is very little understood or appreciated 

 by growers generally. 



If it were not for the cold storage houses holding the bulk of the 

 apple crop every year and permitting it to be placed upon the market 

 gradually, there would be mighty little "present" to say nothing of a 

 "future" to the apple industry in the United States. 



The common storage limit is usually February first, but in chemical 

 plants it is common practice to successfully hold aijples into May and 

 June. 



Just consider for a moment what the conditions would have been last 

 year, with the enormous crop, had it been necessary to market it all 

 by February first. As it was we were able to sell "A" grade Baldwins 

 from cold storage early in June for |(».00 and 10.50 per barrel and got 

 as high as |4.00 for "B" grade. 



My experience in the storing of apples has not been extensive, al- 

 though I am now very much interested in that business, having organ- 

 ized a company two years ago and built last year at Morton, N. Y., 

 what is conceded to be one of the finest and most up-to-date plants in 

 this country. 



Our idea was from the start to make it a GROWERS' storage, and 

 have among our 125 stockholders, practicall}^ every grower in that 

 vicinity. To begin with this gives us enough apples produced by our 

 own stockholders to fill our 60,000 barrel plant in any ordinary season. 

 We did not get the ])lant completed in time to use it last year, but being 

 of reinforced concrete C(jnstruction, tliis was really a good thing as the 

 building had nearly a year to dry out and was in the finest possible 

 condition when we commenced business in August. Building operations 

 should begin not later than April first on a plant of this kind if it is 

 to be ready for use in September or October. 



We vspent three months and hundreds of dollars in traveling about 

 the country ins[)ecting various plants; interviewing owners and man- 

 agers, and consulting with nmnufacturers of refrigerating machinery. 



Our idea is tliat tlie ])lace for economy is in operation of a plant and 

 not in construction, and Ave carried tlirongh the project from start to 

 finish with the idea of getting the best that money would buy. 



We were told by cold storage engineers that 100 horse poAver was 

 altogether sufficient for our requirements, but we installed three 75 

 horse power units; we Avere told that two inches of cork insulation Avas 

 sufficient but Ave put on four inches, in two 2" sheets with broken joints; 

 we were told that one system, i. e., the Direct Expansion Ammonia Sys- 

 tem was all we could possibly have any use for, but we, in addition to 



