No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 507 



to get as much money out of bis goods as other men do, if not at 

 our plant, elsewhere. Here are men who are producing butter and 

 eggs and have been storing for years. Why should not the fruit 

 growers do the same thing. I want to say that you cannot make 

 rotten fruit ripe in a cold storage house, but you can keep good 

 solid fruit in good condition. We have some pears in our cold 

 storage plant now, which w^ere put in last fall in an over-ripe con- 

 dition, and they are now in good condition, and Mr. Hiester has 

 stored more or less fruit with us for a number of years, and I think 

 a great deal of it in an experimental way, and I think he would be 

 able to tell you more in a practical way of the results obtained than 

 1 am able to do. 



The temperature carried is from 32 to 38 degrees. Solid fruit held 

 long, should be carried at a low temperature, and those for a 

 shorter period at a higher temperature, and should warm up slowly. 

 and have a circulation of air to dry them off. I find this is quite 

 important in the storage of fruits. I know that we have stored 

 quite frequently a large quantity of lemons, which is a very perish- 

 able piece of property. I have seen lemons put in cold storage, 

 lemons that were not over-ripe, kept possibly two months with very 

 good results, and then again I have seen them put in there in poor 

 condition, and packed in crates, with wet mucky papers around them, 

 and come out in very bad condition. But lemons put into storage 

 with nice clean wrappers around them will invariably come out all 

 right, and it seems to me that if lemons will do this, that perish- 

 able fruits, such as pears, plums and apples, ought to keep just as 

 well. I believe that it is positively necessary when these fruits come 

 out of this temperature to have them warm up slowly in order that 

 the moisture should dry off before they are put on the market. I 

 might also say that I believe it is good policy in storing fruits that 

 They be stored in ventilated packages, and I also believe it is an ad- 

 vantage to store fruits in small packages rather than in large ones. 

 This, I am satisfied, has brought about the best results. 



Professor Surface, who possibly may be present, put in our rooms 

 quite a few samples of chestnuts last fall. I think they are over 

 there yet. I believe his object was to find out the advantages of 

 cold storage in relation to the chestnut worm. I have not heard 

 what his results were, but one of his deputies gave me some of the 

 samples, and he told me in regard to the keeping quality of the 

 chestnuts, that the results were splendid. I found that the chest- 

 nuts which had been put in a freezing room and carried at a tem- 

 perature of 22 degrees Fahrenheit, were full of frost, and in fact 

 tasteless, and of course necessarily worthless, while the chestnuts 

 carried at a temperature of 32 degrees, and I think in another room 

 of 38 degrees, were not only in the best of condition, but T doubt 

 if anyone could have told them from a fresh chestnut; their flavor 

 was elegant. I am very anxious to see how he made out in regard 

 to the worms. He might be able to freeze them, but I am afraid 

 that at a higher temperature he did not do much damage to the 

 worm. 



There is one thing very essential in the cold storage of fruits, and 

 that is that the temperature be carried evenly. This can only be 

 brought about by artificial refrigeration, there is no question about 

 that at all. I also believe that there is only one method of artificial 



