HORTICULTURE. 51 



appears to keep better if picked while still very green and hard. In common storage 

 the general rule holds. Rough handling of the fruit in the barrels and, of course, at 

 any time previous to barreling, is very injurious. Northern Spy is one of the easiest 

 to bruise, while Tolman Sweet and Yellow Belltlower are both very sensitive to 

 rough handling. Only No. 1 fruit should be stored. 



The fruit from trees grown in sod attains a higher color and keeps better than 

 when the trees are given clean cultivation. Baldwins, however, grown on sandy or 

 gravelly soil ripen earlier and have a higher color than when grown on clay soil, ye1 

 do not keep so well. Fungi on fruit affects its keeping quality injuriously. Affected 

 fruit keeps best in a cold, dry atmosphere; clean fruit, however, keeps best with 

 considerable moisture in the air. With practically all varieties the fruit keeps best 

 if put into cold storage as soon as picked. Hubbardston may color up better if 

 allowed to lie on straw on the ground 2 or 3 weeks. It is considered that while this 

 practice may be desirable with some varieties which soon go into consumption, it 

 injures the keeping quality. 



Generally speaking, apples keep much better if the month of October is cool than 

 if warm; and better after a dry season than a wet one. If the season is such that the 

 fruit does not color up well, the result is the same as when the fruit is picked too 

 green. Fruit which ripens unevenly on the trees should be given 2 or more pick- 

 ings. Cold storage does not lengthen the life of all varieties over common storage to 

 an equal degree. Thus, the season of Fallawater and ( < rimes in cellar storage, accord- 

 ing to one handler, is January; but the season of Fallawater in chemical cold storage 

 is May, a gain of 4 months, while the season of Grimes in chemical cold storage is 

 February, a gain of but 1 month. 



"As to the difference in season of varieties in cellar and in chemical cold storage, 

 Howes makes this uniformly 60 days, i. e., 2 months for all varieties. Newhall 

 makes it 1 month for 5 (early fall) varieties, 2 months for 19 varieties, 3 months for 

 2'! varieties, 4 months for 8 varieties, and 5 months for Northwestern Greening. 

 Graham makes this difference variously from f month to 3 months. Hart makes 

 this difference 2 months in a large majority of cases, with extremes of 1 and 4 

 months. . . . 



' 'As to the relative efficiency of cellar and ice storage as applied to different varieties, 

 Newhall reports that the season of 19 varieties is prolonged by ice storage 1 month 

 beyond their season in cellar storage, 28 varieties, 2 months; 8 varieties, 3 months; 

 and 2 varieties, 4 months. Graham gives the prolongation of season as from J month 

 to 2h months for the different varieties. Hart reports this difference as 1 month for 

 7 out of 9 varieties. 



"As to the relative efficiency of storage under ice and of chemical cold storage, 

 Newhall assigns the same season in either storage to 14 varieties. In the case of 40 

 varieties Newhall finds that chemical cold storage lengthens the season by 1 month as 

 compared with cold storage under ice, and in the case of 2 varieties the season is 

 lengthened 2 months. Hart reports 7 varieties as keeping 1 month longer in chemi- 

 cal than in ice storage. Graham assigns to one-half of the varieties he reports on a 

 lengthening of the season by i month in chemical storage, but in other cases this differ- 

 ence varies from J month to H months. 



"Shafer estimates the life of fruit in chemical cold storage as 60 days longer than 

 the same varieties under ice, though in very cool seasons, such as that of 1903, there 

 is, he says, hardly any difference in the keeping quality of the fruit in the two 

 storages." 



Tables are given showing in detail the seasons of certain varieties of apples in 

 chemical cold storage, ice storage, and cellar storage, as given by the authorities 

 noted in the above paragraphs. 



The general principle which appears to hold in the storage of apples is that " varie- 

 ties that keep long and go down slowly are held at about 31 to 32° F., while early 



