Vermont State Horticultural Society 49 



filling the ice chamber, which must be filled three or four times 

 tO' carry apples through the season. 



In the main building at each end are double doors, between 

 these are sliding doors with iron rods three inches apart. The 

 sliding doors are closed when the other doors are opened to lower 

 the inside temperature on frosty nights. 



The floor of the house is of brick with the exception of a 

 concrete driveway nine feet wide and a walk four feet wide to 

 the work room, 22 x 14 feet, which is connected with the storage 

 room by double doors. 



When ice alone is used to cool the house the temperature 

 will not be reduced much below 42° F. If it is important that 

 a lower temperature be had before frosty nights occur the ice 

 should be crushed fine and mixed with salt. Salt has a great 

 affinity for water and coming in contact with the ice extracts the 

 water from it very rapidly and by changing it from a solid to 

 a liquid produces intense cold. The changing of ice from a 

 solid at 32° to a liquid at 33° F. has one hundred and forty-two 

 times as much refrigerating effect as the same weight of water 

 has when raised one degree in temperature. 



The best temperature for keeping apples is 32° F. and the 

 less it varies from this the better will be the results. 



When a house is cooled with ice in direct contact with the 

 atmosphere of the storage room, the moisture contained in the 

 atmosphere will increase rapidly as the temperature of the ice 

 chamber and storage room become the same and it will be ad- 

 visable to open the house and air it when the outside temperature 

 is near that of the storage room. Care should be taken not to 

 open the house when the outside temperature is warmer than 

 that inside, for when a warm atmosphere comes in contact with 

 a cold surface its moisture is condensed and deposited on that 

 surface. Moisture is not as objectionable in a house designed 

 for apples alone as it would be if other farm products were to 

 be stored, for apples need sufficient moisture in the atmosphere 

 to keep the fruit from shrivelling. 



If a dry atmosphere is required the house should be cooled 

 by pipes with brine circulating through them and not by ice in 

 direct contact with the atmosphere of the storage room. 



Cold storage does not add anything to the appearance or 

 quality of the fruit. An apple, if properly ripened, never looks 

 any better than when it is first picked from the tree. Cold 

 storage simply retards the ripening of the fruit and checks the 

 rapid spread of whatever disease it may be affected with. Neither 

 decay or spread of disease will be entirely checked unless the 

 fruit is frozen, but will go on more slowly as the temperature 

 approaches the freezing point. One cannot put poor and imper- 



