14 COLD STORAGE OF THE PEAR AND PEACH. 



in the early-picked fruit to so largo an extent. Pears of all kinds need 

 to be picked before they reach maturity and to be ripened in a cool tem- 

 perature if the best texture and flavor arc to be developed. It is a mat- 

 ter of practical judgment to determine the proper picking season, but 

 for cold storage or other purposes the stem should at least cleave easily 

 from the tree before the fruit is ready to pick. Many trees bear fruit 

 differing widely in the degree of maturity at the same time, and in 

 such cases uniformity in the crop can be attained only when the orchard 

 is picked several times, the properly mature specimens being selected 

 in each successive picking. This practice not only secures more uni- 

 formity in ripeness, but the fruit is more even and the average size is 

 larger than when all the pears are picked at the same time. 



THE INFLUENCE OF DELAYED STORAGE ON KEEPING QUALITY. 



Pears ripen much more rapidly after they are picked than the} T do 

 in a similar temperature while hanging on the tree. The rapidity of 

 ripening varies with the character of the variety, the maturity of the 

 fruit when picked, the temperature in which it is placed, and the con- 

 ditions under which it has been grown. If the fruit is left in the 

 orchard in warm weather in piles or in packages, if it is delayed in 

 hot cars or on a railroad siding in transit, or if it is put in packages 

 which retain the heat for a long time, it continues to ripen and. is 

 considerably nearer the end of its life history when it reaches the 

 storage house than would otherwise be the case. The influence of. 

 delay in reaching the storage house will therefore vary with the 

 season, with the variety, and with the conditions surrounding the 

 fruit at this time. A delay of a few days with the quick ripening 

 Bartlett in sultry August weather might cause the fruit to soften or 

 even decay before it reached the storage house, though a similar 

 delay in clear, cooler weather would be less hurtful. A delay of a 

 like period in storing the slower-ripening Kieffer would be less in- 

 jurious in cool October weather, though the Kieffer pear, especially 

 from young trees, can sometimes be ruined commercially by not stor- 

 ing it at once after picking. 



From the experiments with the Bartlett and the Kieffer pears, from 

 which these general introductory remarks are deduced, it was found 

 that the Bartlett, if properly packed, kept in prime condition in cold 

 storage for six weeks, provided it was stored within forty-eight hours 

 after picking in a temperature of 32° F. ; but that if the fruit did not 

 reach the storage room until four days after it was picked there was a 

 loss of 20 to 30 per cent from softening and decay under exactly simi- 

 lar storage conditions. 



The Kietters stored within forty-eight hours in a temperature of 

 32° F. have kept in perfect condition until late winter, although there 

 is little commercial demand for them after the Holidays. The fruit 



