PROCEEDINGS OP THE ANNUAL MEETING. 273 



Mr. Morrill: I do not know as this discussion will be very profitable, 

 because the facts exist, and we all know they exist, though we do not 

 know, perhaps, what there is of it. In my opinion both are right and 

 both are wrong. Under certain conditions the moisture in the atmos- 

 phere will condense upon an apple, and we know that under certain con- 

 ditions of ventilation the apple shrinks; it shrinks by evaporation, 

 because none of the drier solid matter leaves the apple, it is all there. 

 You may call it evaporation, or sweat, or perspiration, you may call it 

 whatever you please, but they do sweat and they do condense moisture 

 under certain atmospheric conditions. I do not know that the topic is 

 profitable at all, but these are the facts and we should understand them. 



The Secretary: Yes, but when the apple is withered you do not find 

 this accumulation of moisture; it remains dry. Now, the sweating 

 I)rocess, as commonly understood, occurs through the practice of a great 

 many farmers who pile their apples under the trees and leave them 

 exposed to all kinds of weather, under the impression they will 

 keep better if allowed to "sweat" there. Somebody asked the question 

 at what temperature they should be kept to avoid that. There would 

 be no particular temperature. Any time when the atmosphere warmed 

 up by a sudden change, and it was humid, and the apples were of lower 

 temperature, this sweating would occur, but the precise degree would 

 not be fixed. There would be no sweating through the evaporation of 

 the apple, no perceptible moisture on its surface. It is a popular error, 

 no doubt, that apples are benefited by this sweating process out under 

 the trees, exposed to the rain and frost and the other conditions of the 

 atmosphere. When this sweating has occurred, these apples are very 

 unpleasant things to handle, and certainly will not keep better than 

 if they had been put away dry. 



Mr. Eork: We have noticed in roots — turnips, carrots, and potatoes 

 (and the keeping of them seems quite similar in conditions to keeping of 

 apples) — that if put deep into a hole and covered tight at once, they 

 will gather moisture and rot; and if you put them into a hole and put 

 a heavy blanket over them, and let them lie there awhile, the blanket 

 will be wet through, a blanket as heavy as a carpet. After that you 

 can take off the blanket and cover them, with a degree of safety. Now, 

 the temperature, after you have covered them with a blanket and put 

 them into the hole, is certainly as warm in the hole as it is outside, ind 

 yet they will continue wet. I have put apples away the same way, put 

 them into a hole and covered a blanket over them and the blanket was 

 wet. If you put earth over them they will rot soon. If you let them 

 stay there and remove your blanket, you can leave them with a good 

 deal of safety. 



Mr. Morrill: Those of us who have paid any attention to cold storage 

 know this, that the least possible change or variation in temperature is 

 the best condition in which to keep apples, and with perfectly uniform 

 temperature this sweating or condensation is scarcely noticeable; and 

 that the best temperature in which apples can be kept is from thirty- 

 four to thirty-six degrees. These are things which we should under- 

 stand, and the nearest approach to that is the nearest to perfection, and 

 the temperature should be held absolutely uniform. This might bring 

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