20 COLD STORAGE OF THE PEAR AND PEACH. 



though the air is not perfectly sweet. The atmosphere of the rooms, 

 in which citrus fruits or vegetables of various kinds such as cabbage, 

 onions, and celery — are stored, is often charged with the odors arising 

 from these products, if the ventilation is not thorough. In small 

 houses, in which a single room can not be used for each product, 

 fruits are often stored together during the summer months, and at 

 this period the storage air is in greater danger of vitiation, since it 

 is more difficult to provide proper ventilation. 



The summer fruits, therefore, being generally hot when placed in 

 the storage room, are in condition to absorb the odors which are likely 

 to affect the rooms during the warm season, and as the biological and 

 chemical processes are normally more active in the case of such fruit 

 than in fruits maturing later, the flavors deteriorate more quickly, 

 even in well-ventilated rooms. The fruits that are picked in cool 

 weather and enter the storage rooms in a cooler and less active condi- 

 tion are not in the same danger of contamination. 



From the practical standpoint it may be pointed out that summer 

 fruits should be stored in rooms in which the air is sweet and pure. 

 They should not be stored with products which exhale strong aromas, 

 and the dano-er of contamination is lessened if the fruit can be cooled 

 down in a pure room before it is placed with other products in the 

 permanent compartment provided for it. For the same reason the 

 winter fruits should be stored in rooms in which the air is kept pure, 

 and preferably in compartments assigned to a single fruit. 



The experiments furnish no evidence that the quality deteriorates 

 more rapidly as the temperature is lowered. On the contrary, all of 

 the experience so far indicates that the delicate flavors of the pear, 

 apple, and peach are retained longer in a temperature that approaches 

 the freezing point than in any higher temperature. 



THE BEHAVIOR OF THE FRUIT WHEN REMOVED FROM STORAGE. 



There is a general impression that cold-storage fruit deteriorates 

 quickly after removal from the warehouse. This opinion is based on 

 the experience of the fruit handler and the consumer, and in many 

 cases is w 7 ell founded, but this rule is not applicable to all fruits in 

 all seasons. The rapidity of deterioration depends principally on the 

 nature of the fruit, on its degree of maturity when it leaves the 

 warehouse, and on the temperature into which it is taken. A Bartlett 

 pear, which normally ripens quickly, will ripen and break down in a 

 few days after removal. If ripe or overmature when removed, it will 

 decay much more quickly, and in either condition its deterioration 

 will be hastened if the weather is unusually hot and humid. In the 

 practical management of this variety it is fundamentally important 

 that it be taken from storage while it is still firm and that it be kept 



