iSS NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



picked in the morning were cooler by 7 degrees when they went into 

 cold storage than were the apples which were picked the afternoon 

 before and allowed to remain in the shed over night. This indicates 

 the importance of picking early summer varieties, especially, early in 

 in the morning before they have become very warm. With the later 

 varieties the weather is usually cool enough to prevent the fruit 

 from becoming overheated even when picked 'while warm. 



The rate of cooling indicates that it is wise to hasten the fruit to 

 storage as soon as possible after packing, as it will take several days 

 for it to cool to storage temperatures. If pre-cooling can be resorted 

 to before storage, this will take the place of immediate storage. 



Effect of Freezing- on the Keeping Qualitie.s of Apples. 



Our cold storage men are often called upon to pay for damaged 

 fruit. The usual claim is that the fruit has been frozen in cold stor- 

 age. The storage men have usually tried to sliow tiiat their tempera- 

 tures have not been low enough to injure fruit. In all probability very 

 little actual loss of fruit in our commercial storage houses could be 

 traced directly to low temperatures. It is not uncommon that fruit is 

 frozen upon the trees in the fall. When this fruit is gradually thawed 

 out it makes good storage stock, but if the sun comes out hot the 

 morning after a freeze and thaws the fruit rapidly, total loss is apt to 

 result. Fruit picked before and after the freeze of 1909 on the 12th 

 and 13th day of October showed but little difference in keeping qual- 

 ity. That picked after the freeze kept the better, probably due to 

 the fact that it had been off the trees for a short time when it was 

 placed in cold storage, and was also more nearly at the proper stage 

 of ripeness for storage purposes. 



Apples frozen in the lower layers of boxes which were next the 

 floor immediately over a room known as a "sharp freezer' during the 

 winter of 1909 and 1910 were uninjured except in the case of Wealthy. 

 In the case of Stayman Winesap, which were frozen ia this manner, 

 the fruits we e frozen twice, having been frozen on the trees in October. 

 Nevertheless they were uninjured by this double freezing. 



Apples in the center of the boxes subjected to 3 degrees below 

 zero for over forty hours were cooled to 13 degrees with unwrapped 

 apples and 20 degrees with wrapped apples. In both cases they were 

 ruined. They were thawed out in a room temperature of 3 2 degrees. 

 Apples kept in a room at 28 degrees and lowered to a temperature 

 of 24 degrees were uninjured when thawed out. 



