Fruits and Culture. 387 



KEEPING QUALITIES OF APPLES. 



Cold storage for apples is as necessary as for meat or other products. 

 Many excellent experiments have been made in regard to the keeping 

 qualities of apples. Therefore the following condensed report collected 

 by Ice and Refrigerator will be of interest to apple merchants : 



In recent bulletin issued by the United States Department of Ag- 

 riculture, the results of various experiments on the keeping qualities of 

 different varieties of apples made at the Canada Experiment Farms, 

 stored in cellar, only one variety, the Ben Davis, came out at the end of 

 May with all the fruit sound, the Newell being next with 93 per cent, 

 sound, the Wagener third, 88 per cent., and the Ralls Genet and Wine- 

 sap 82 per cent. The temperature ranged from 35 to 40 degrees F. for 

 three months, while during the cold snap the temperature fell to 26 de- 

 grees. The apples were undoubtedly frozen, but were in the dark an'i 

 thawed out gradually." 



The relative keeping qualities of varieties under cold storage condi- 

 tions was tested by the Nebraska Horticultural Society. The fruit there 

 tested went into cold storage in the fall of 1897 and was taken out at in- 

 tervals during the summer of 1898, and at that time examined, and each 

 variety marked according to the condition in which it was found. Thirty- 

 four varieties were tested, and of these seven varieties came out Novem- 

 ber I, 1898, practically in perfect condition, viz., the Ben Davis, Wine- 

 sap, Ralls Genet, Limbertwig, Willow Twig, Gilpin and Lansingburg. 

 The White Pearman kept till June and the Russet till July. The Wag- 

 ener, which ranked third in the cellar test, ranked the poorest of the thir- 

 ty-four varieties in the cold storage test. 



One of the most interesting parts of the report is the account of the 

 behavior of the different varieties in cold storage. Some retained all of 

 their good qualities up to the close of the exposition, November i, 1898. 

 These were Ben Davis, Winesap, Ralls Genet, Limbertwig, Willow 

 Twig, Gilpin and Lansingburg. Although the Salome lost a little in 

 quality, it kept well in storage and on the table. Fruit taken from the 

 storage June i retained color and firmness for nearly five week. Some 

 retained good outward appearance, but lost in some other quality, as, 

 for instance, the Iowa Blush, the skin of which became so bitter as to 

 render it unfit for use. On the other hand, some varieties retained their 

 eating qualities, but lost in outward appearance. Such was the Milam, 

 which kept well but lost in color. There was also numerous other kinds 

 of deterioration; Minkler lost flavor and began to decay; the English 



