154 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



air. Next to the side walls I nail up strips one inch thick, with the 

 pine boards forming the sides of the bin removed from the wall one 

 inch, thereb}' making the circulation about the bin complete. Any 

 kind of pine lumber will do, and can be used for an}' length of time, 

 if exposed to the sun before using, and allowed to cool in the shade. 

 I usually use fence lumber, and find it useful in the spring, either in 

 building new or repairing old fences. Care must be taken to have 

 the sides of these bins as tight as possible, so that no holes are left 

 for the rats to get in. I have found that rats will not attack an 

 open bin of apples filled to the top, but allow him to get an opening 

 into the bottom or side of bin, where he can work in secret, and he 

 can make more chips than an old-fashioned hand cider mill ; for he 

 worketh both night and day, and his jaws are reversible. I have 

 found that apples keep best when they are four to five feet deep in 

 the bins. Large dr\' goods boxes are excellent, or. for storing' for 

 family use, shoe boxes can be used, and covers nailed ou. 



Ventilation and temperature are the two most important items 

 in keeping apples. For the first four weeks that apples are in the 

 cellar, and while the temperature is warm during the day and cool 

 at night, I open the cellar in the evening and close up in the morn- 

 ing, and when the first cold snap comes I leave the cellar open both 

 da}' and night, closing up when the weather again turns warm. 

 During extreme cold weather the cellar must be opened on the op- 

 posite side from the wind, and can be allowed to remain open until 

 the temperature in the cellar goes to 25°, when it should be closed 

 until it runs up above the freezing point, which, owing to latent 

 heat in the apples, it will quickly do. This process of ventilation 

 can be repeated until you have your apple cellar about 32°, when it 

 should be closed as tightly as possible, and not opened oftener than 

 necessar}'. To keep apples, then, we should open the cellar when the 

 temperature outside is lower than in the cellar, and close it when 

 the temperature outside is warmer than in the cellar. Keep the cel- 

 lar as dark as possible at all times. Burn sulphur in the cellar fre- 

 quently, say once or twice each week for several weeks after apples 

 are placed in the cellar. The nearer air-tight cellars are, the better 

 fruit will keep. I find it much easier, and many limes more profit- 

 able, to regulate the temperature of my apple cellar than to sort out 

 rotten apples. My apples are never sorted until I get ready to mar- 

 ket them, for the reason that apples will decay much faster after be- 

 ing disturbed, and it does not pay to handle twice. If they are not 

 keeping, sell them at once. 



