TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 245 



SO often left there too long; also on account of the warmth of the ground 

 at that time of year, which ripens the fruit, the one all-important aim of 

 cold storage being to keep the temperature as near to freezing as possible 

 without freezing the fruit, thereby retarding ripening. 



In construction of storage house, the more nearly air-tight the room the 

 more readily an even temperature can be maintained. The walls should 

 be frost-proof. A ready means of changing the air when the outside air is 

 cooler than inside is necessary. This is readily done when the basement 

 of a building several stories high is used, by means of a flue to the roof 

 that can be opened and closed at will. I use an exhaust fan run by steam 

 power, pipes from the upper part of the store-room conveying the air to 

 the fan. 



Shutting off the ground heat is an important feature. This can best be 

 done by planing-chips eighteen inches deep on a cement bottom. There 

 are other important features to be kept in view in construction, such as 

 convenience in storing and removing fruit and safety from fire. 



The use of such storage from October to April is nearly equal in its 

 advantages to storage with ice, but is of no use, or but very little, during 

 the summer. A warm time in the winter will raise the inside tempera- 

 ture, and with no cool turns for a week or two the fruit must sufifer in 

 condition. At such times the difference in care and management the first 

 few days after the fruit is gathered is very marked. Greenings and other 

 varieties likely to scald showing the brown skin in January, in the one 

 case, and in the other keeping the bright green color till April in spite of 

 the rise in inside temperature in the winter time. 



The owner of a good storage-house for his crop is not obliged to mar- 

 ket his fruit at once, but can take his choice of the fall or winter market. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Willard: My idea of cold storage has always been that it was 

 worth more in the cities than in the country. 



Mr. Morrill : You have the key to the whole thing. 



Prof. Bailey : I have given a good deal of attention to this for a few 

 years, because people are asking a good many questions. I have formed 

 some opinions which may be correct or they may be wrong. One is this: 

 If we are to store fruit with ice or any artificial means, it is chiefly valu- 

 able for the middle-man or the man who sells in the city. I do not believe 

 that, as a rule, the man who grows the fruit can afford to put in a plant of 

 that character. There are some exceptions, as where a man desires to 

 grow a special fruit for a special market. In general I think it is better 

 to move the fruit quickly and get it into the hands of some one else who 

 takes the danger of shrinkage in value and of decay. There is a feature of 

 co-operative storage which is valuable in somecases. In central New York 

 state the country is hilly, and half of the apple orchards, perhaps, do not 

 produce enough to warrant a man in taking any particular pains in mar- 

 keting his fruit, nor is there enough fruit at one point to attract many 

 buyers. There has been some talk in New York state about co-operative 

 buildings erected at railway stations in country towns, to which every one 

 shall subscribe who desires, and this shall be a sort of clearing ground 

 for all the fruit of that community, so that there will be enough gathered 

 together in one place to attract the buyers. The buyers would then com- 



