NOTES. 205 



life, but they do not reach the mass of people who live in the country. He urged 

 the teaching in school of the things that men are interested in. The kindergarten 

 was declared the most important thing that has come into our educational system. 

 The vital fai-tor in the teacher should be love and sympathy for the child, not the 

 giving of information. The natural way to give agricultural education was believed 

 to be through the schools rather than by bulletins. The gist of the bulletins should 

 be embodied in the text-book. Some statistics were quoted to show that as pupils 

 in the country schools grow older a smaller proportion affirm a desire to make a liv- 

 ing by some phase of agriculture. One of the reasons for this would seem to be that 

 the majority of the teachers in the country schools come from the city, and, con- 

 sciously or unconsciously, attract the child's mind cityward. The announcement 

 was made that it is proposed to establish a model country school building and 

 grounds at Ithaca, under the auspices of Cornell University, at a cost of $1,000 to 

 $1,500, to be supplied with pupils from the town, and to serve as a means for the 

 better training of teachers in agriculture. 



In a paper on the Relation of Cold Storage to Commercial Orcharding, G. Harold 

 Powell, of this Department, stated that cold storage is likely to have its greatest 

 influence on the development of commercial apple growing. Quick-ripening fruits 

 like the peach, summer pears, and small fruits are not generally adapted to cold- 

 storage treatment. They ripen in hot w?ather, and the end of their life is quickly 

 reached unless ripening is checked by immediate storage. Even then they can be 

 held back only for a limited time. They rapidly lose their delicate aroma and 

 flavor, and when placed on the market often deteriorate before reaching the con- 

 sumer. If summer fruits are stored, success demands that they be well ripened and 

 physically perfect when put in cold storage. They must be placed in small pack- 

 ages, stored immediately after packing, and must be kept as cool as possible after 

 removing from storage and sold at once. Under these conditions berries may be 

 stored a week, peaches 2 weeks, and Bartlett pears a month or longer if there is a 

 demand for the fruit. Refrigeration is likely to prove of special importance in the 

 development of apple growing in the States farther south. The speaker held that 

 when stored as soon as picked many of the best varieties of the South equaled the 

 varieties of the North in keeping quality. The local warehouse is considered the 

 ideal for quick storage and for the grower who is competent to handle his own crop. 

 Cold storage is raising the standard of fruit growing by emphasizing the importance 

 of physically perfect, well-developed fruit. It is directing attention especially to the 

 fact that diseased, wormy, poorly colored, immature, or bruised fruit has poor keep- 

 ing cjuality. It emphasizes the necessity of careful picking, jiacking, and grading. 

 Where the cold-storage warehouse is properly managed the better apples, like Grimes 

 and Mother, retain their finest qualities until March, and Jonathan, Northern Spy, 

 and Esopus Spitzenberg until April or May. There is always an undersupply of 

 these better varieties. 



J. H. Hale, of Connecticut, discussed the subject of Grading and Packing Fruits 

 for Long Shipment. Fruits for long-distance shipment must be grown for that pur- 

 pose. Sorts that carry best are those grown on high, well-drained land on open- 

 headed trees. Color and quality in the fruit are secured by the liberal use of i)otash 

 in the soil. The fruit when picked should be well matured, but not soft. It should 

 l)e picked and shipped in rigid packages to prevent Ijruising. As soon as the fruit is 

 taken from the tree it should l)e carried to the packing house and graded by hand 

 into different sizes, colors, etc. The best package for peaches and plums is the 

 (Tcorgia six-basket carrier, for apples and pears the 50-pound bushel box. All choice 

 fruit should be wrapped in paper. It adds to the carrying and keeping qualities of 

 the fruit, improves the color, and increases the returns from 10 to 25 per cent above 

 the regular market price. When packed, the fruit should be placed in cold storage 

 immediately. Stripping off part of the leaves of very vigorous trees helps the color, 

 texture, and shipping capacity of the fruit, Imt is slightly injurious to the quality. 



