PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 27 



spaces between the pieces. Fruit is stored in cubical boxes in the lower 

 spaces, placed closely upon one another and covered over the top with 

 loose pieces of board to protect from the direct falling of the drip from 

 the melting ice, which is placed on the upper space in sufficient quantity 

 to last two weeks at a time. There is no elaborate system of drainage and 

 no method of absorption by use of chemicals to keep the fruit dry. The 

 water from the melting ice is allowed to trickle freely through the pack- 

 ages of fruit, keeping the atmosphere of the storage space saturated 

 constantly. 



When Mr. Ward's 1,000 bushels of Bartletts are ready to pick, he 

 attends directly to the business of gathering the crop. He has no anxiety 

 about the market, but first places his entire crop in the storage room. 

 Then, while taking a rest after the arduous labor, he looks over the market 

 reports and studies when and where to place his crop to best advantage. 

 He feels safe about his fruit, and can take his time to market it; and when 

 he places it upon the market he knows from experience that, because of 

 the condition of moisture in which he has kept his fruit, it will stand up 

 as if fresh picked from the trees. 



We are just beginning to feel the importance of cold storage and appre- 

 ciate its possibilities. Mr. Ward has certainly solved the problem for 

 apples and pears. Other problems come in with soft fruits, not so easy 

 of solution, and we have yet to learn the best method. 



A novel arrangement I noted on a farm near Trumansburg, New York. 

 A gentleman, whose name escapes me, has planted quite largely to 

 peaches, pears, quinces, and apples. It will be some time before he will 

 have fruit to sell, but cultivation and care of a high order must be given the 

 growing orchards. That he may have an income during this interval, he 

 raises early lambs for the great markets. He has erected a sheep barn 

 with all conveniences, and in it is a silo. The roof of the barn is partly 

 glass, and he is perfecting an arrangement for growing under this glass 

 early vegetables and ornamental plants. When his fruit comes into bear- 

 ing, his barn will be converted into a storage and packing house, and his 

 silo into an ice-house and cold-storage room. All this with very little 

 metamorphosis of the building. The plan seems logical and it is certainly 

 unique. Its success, of course, will depend greatly upon the man. 



The meeting of the Western New York Horticultural Society was a 

 great treat to me. Kochester is a great center of a region teeming with 

 progressive fruitgrowers. They were out in force at the meeting, and I 

 have never attended a gathering of horticulturists more entertaining, 

 unless it was the meeting of the American Pomological Society in Michigan 

 some years ago. 



Promptly at the hour of the meeting, the president Mr. W. C. Barry, 

 called to order, and his method of conducting the sessions reminded me 

 strongly of his honored father, who was a prince among presiding officers. 

 The management was somewhat autocratic, but no time nor opportunities 

 were wasted. Everybody was alive, and there was no listlessness nor 

 wrangling over non-essentials. Without a resolution, the president 

 appointed committees, one of which arranged the order of business. 

 The reports of these various committees were, when presented, adopted 

 without a vote, upon the theory that, no objection being made, there 

 must be general acquiescence. To my astonishment, the report of the 

 committee to nominate officers was treated in the same way. The chair, 



