16 



THE GOLD STORAGE OF SMALL FRUITS. 



an opening made b}' removing a glass plug from the stopper of the 

 l)ottle. By these methods of taking the gas samples some admixture 

 with the outside air is possible, but it was evidently not sufficient to 

 vitiate the results in a comparative study of this kind. Table I shows 

 the result of these anah^ses. 



Table I. — Analyses of <j<is in strawberry packages. 



Variety. 



Date of 

 picking. 



Gandv . 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Date 

 of analy- 

 sis. 



Volume of 



sample 

 analyzed. 



1905. 

 June 5 

 ...do... 

 June 9 

 ...do... 

 ...do... 

 ...do... 

 June 16 

 ...do... 

 ...do... 

 ...do... 



1905. 



June 15 

 ....do... 



do... 



....do... 

 ....do... 

 ....dd... 



June 19 

 ....do... 

 ....do... 

 ....do... 



1 Cubic 

 cent iineters. 

 62. 2 



86.0 

 73. 



Character of wrapper. 



Double wrapper 



....do 



....do 



100.0 I do 



7s. 2 I Trif>le wrapper . 



100.0 i do. 



100.0 



86.4 



100.0 



63.4 



Tightlv closed bottles. 



.do". 



.do 



.do 



Carbon o.Kvgen 

 f'ound! 1 ^-"'i- 



Per rent by 

 volume. 

 2.09 

 1.86 

 1.49 

 1.40 

 9.8 

 7.16 

 37.2 

 36.3 

 37.6 

 34.3 



Average for tightly closed bottles 



36.4 



Per cent by 

 volume. 

 11. b 

 18.6 

 20.0 

 18.8 

 12.8 

 13.6 

 



0.2 

 

 



It will be seen from the above table that the samples taken from 

 the ordinary double-wrapped cartons show a low percentage of carbon 

 dioxid and a high percentage of oxygen. This indicates that the 

 double-wrapped package is not very tight, comparatively speaking, 

 as the amount of carbon dioxid retained increases with the tightness 

 of the package. The samples taken from the triple-wrapped carton 

 show much more carbon dioxid and much less oxygen, indicating 

 that the triple- wrapped package is much tighter than the double- 

 wrapped package. The samples taken from the tightly stoppered 

 glass bottles show a still larger percentage of carbon dioxid and an 

 almost entire lack of oxygen, indicating a high degree of tightness. 

 In these receptacles practically all of the oxygen in the contined air 

 was replaced by carbon dioxid, and about 15 per cent in addition 

 was produced by the fruit. 



The flavor of the fruit in the double-wrapped boxes was very good 

 at the time the gas samples were taken, and the berries were still firm 

 and sound. In the triple-wrapped box the fruit had softened consid- 

 erably and had a bad flavor. The fruit in the glass bottles was softer 

 than that in the triple-wrapped boxes and the flavor was very bad. 

 The poor flavor, together with the softening of the texture, w-as 

 undoubtedly due to the smothering of the fruit by the large amount 

 of carbon-dioxid gas. 



A fruit as taken from the tree or plant is a living, breathing organ- 

 ism. It takes in oxygen and gives oS carbon dioxid. It can not be 

 held in a tight package in an atmosphere of carbon dioxid exhaled by 

 the fruit itself without killing it or injuring it severely. This is appar- 



108 



