560 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



grown, and that is the Nero; that is what we call the Four Hundred 

 apple from the simple fact that the wealthiest people in Philadel- 

 phia seem to take this apple for the table. It is not very sour, but a 

 good eating apple, and looks well, sells well, and the supply does 

 not equal the demand. 



When refrigeration was first started we knew very little about 

 it, especially the temperature required for the ditferent fruits, apd 

 I must say, after twenty odd years of experience in the refrigeration 

 of nearly all kinds of fruits, it seems to me that we know very little 

 about the nature of the apple so far as refrigeration goes at the 

 present day; the same as you, gentlemen, every day learning some 

 thing new and improving the different methods of culture, market 

 ing and selling of your fruit, so there is always something new to 

 learn about refrigeration; but all these things are advancing very 

 rapidly, and I have no doubt, in a few years from now, if you should 

 take a photograph of the fruit you see here to-day (which surpasses 

 in all respects the fruit of a few years ago), you will marvel at your 

 poor results for I believe the time is coming when you will have 

 more perfect fruit. The land in this section is well adapted for 

 the raising of the highest grade of apples and other fruits and there 

 is no reason why you should not have as fine fruit as anywhere 

 else. 



I want to say something about the Western fruit. It has been 

 said it did not pay to plant orchards here from the fact that they 

 are planting so many in the West. I have traveled through the 

 West considerably and I don't think the western people have suffl- 

 cient apples for their own consumption. For the last two years 

 they have been buying apples in Pennsylvania, New York and Vir- 

 ginia, and have shipped them to Chicago, Cleveland and other West- 

 ern cities for cold storage; therefore that demonstrates that there 

 is no danger of having too many fruit trees planted in this State. 



A gentleman came to my office a few weeks ago who to my knowl- 

 edge has a hundred trees, hearing fruit about four years. I said 

 to him: "What did you make out of your trees last year?" He said 

 he had eighteen hundred dollars protit from those hundred trees 

 and he was offered more this year for those apples. He was not a 

 man you would call a scientific man but a practical fruit grower. 



I believe if the 3'oung men of this vicinity and other sections of 

 this State would take these farms and put out apple trees, and put 

 out a good lot of them, properly cultivate and care for them, there is 

 nothing they could get into or do that would bring them better 

 returns than a good orchard. There are very "few men who go into 

 the cities that make a success of it ; about one in five hundred makes 

 a fortune. In planting these orchards they could make a good 

 living in the country and store up a good sum for old age. 



When refrigeration was in its infancy the temperature for apples 

 was not thoroughly understood, and ranged about 26 to 40 degrees, 

 but at the present time they are kept at between 30 to 32 degrees. 

 It is absolutely necessary to have an even temperature and not 

 allow it to vary more than two degrees after the fruit has once 

 become cool. It is also xevj essential to have the room well ventila- 

 ted occasionally; otherwise by the close atmosphere in the rooms 

 the flavor of the apple is liable to be lost. 



