Cold Storage Conditions for Export Fruit. 133 



COLD STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR EXPORT 



FRUIT. 



Report, dated 28tli December, 1920, by the Chief, 

 Division of Botany, to the Secretary for Agriculture. 



Last year a report dealing with the channels through which export 

 fruit passed was published as Bulletin No. 2 of 1920 ("■ Wastage in 

 Citrus Fruit shipped for Export "). Since then the matter has been 

 gone into more fully as regards the transit of citrus fruit for export 

 from the orchards to the overseas market, and a detailed report on 

 the same is at present in the printer's hand. 



Recently, however, thi^ (icveinment cool chambers, owing to re- 

 construction, were not available for the storage of fruit, and use was 

 made of Chamber No. 20 of the Imperial Cold Storage Company for 

 the storage of export fruit. 



In lesponse to requests from the Government Fruit Inspector, 

 Mr, Eoworth, and various fruit-growers' societies, that periodical 

 examination should be made by this Division of the chambers used 

 for export fruit, arrangements were made, with permission of the 

 manager, to make a mycological examination of the atmosphere in 

 the cool chamber of the Imperial Cold Storage Company at Cape- 

 town during the early part of December. The examination was 

 carried out by Mr. V. A. Putterill, M.A., Government Mycologist. 

 Capetown, and Miss M. R. H. Thompson, B.A. M.Sc.,' F.L.S., 

 Mycologist, Pretoria, in the presence of Dr. Marloth, consulting 

 chemist and bacteriologist to the Imperial Cold Storage Company. 



The following report has been furnished by Miss Thompson, who 

 subsequently took charge of the work as Acting Government 

 Mycologist at Capetown during the absence on leave of Mr. 

 Putterill : — 



'■ Chamber No. 20, in which the culture plates were exposed, 

 is large with a floor-space of 2632 square feet. It is cooled by 

 }neans of ammonia. The pipes containing this ammonia are 

 exposed and cover the roof of the chamber; an electric fan 

 keeps a constant current of air circulating throughout. The 

 temperature is maintained at 36° F. A mycological examina- 

 tion of the atmospliere of Cool Chamber No. 20 was made on the 

 13th December. The appearance of the chamber then left little 

 to be desired. It was tidy and clean; the walls were white- 

 washed, and there was a thick layer of clean sawdust on the 

 floor. A faint smell of ammonia could be detected. Fruit boxes 

 were stacked along the wall on the left of the door. 



" During a visit to this chamber a few days previously 

 there was no sawdust and the floor was then damp owing to 

 leakage from the overhead pipes. The odour of ammonia was_ 



