294 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REPORT. 
First, degree of ripeness when picked; second, season; third, man- 
ner of picking, packing and handling; fourth, kind of storage; fifth, 
presence of fungi; sixth, temperature at which the fruit was stored. 
Some of these evidently the storer of fruit cannot change. It was 
found by correspondence with many of the large buyers who kept 
apples in cold storage that they have different temperatures at which 
they store different varieties; years of experience having shown 
them that each variety has a certain temperature which might be 
called its best storage temperature. Storage men do not agree 
exactly as to these temperatures but their conclusions are very close. 
A table! is given showing the different temperatures at which five of 
the leading storage men in the United States keep seventy-two dif- 
ferent varieties of apples. These temperatures do not vary widely 
from freezing, the lowest being 30° and the highest, 35°. At the 
latter end of the bulletin an alphabetical list is given of a large num- 
ber of varieties including all standard sorts and many others seldom 
or never marketed. Under each name the variety is discussed solely 
from the standpoint of storage. Some varieties have certain weak- 
nesses ; as the York Imperial which, while a good keeper, is apt to 
scald in storage. Scalding is a technical term applied to certain 
changes in the fruit not well understood which give it the appear- 
ance of having patches of the surface of the fruit exposed to in- 
tense heat. Such changes render fruit much less valuable and in 
some cases wholly worthless for the market, hence it is a point of 
importance in estimating the value of the variety. 
A valuable discussion is given on the question of treatment of a 
variety after it is picked so as to make it keep longest. It is stated 
that “the soil on which a tree grows makes a difference with the 
keeping quality of the fruit.” Baldwins grown on sandy or gravelly 
soil ripen earlier and must be picked earlier and do not keep so well 
as those on clay soils, although they have a higher color. The 
presence of various fungi is mentioned as a frequent cause of decay 
in fruit. “ Except for retarding the development of fungus, apples 
keep best with considerable moisture in the air,’ as this prevents 
them from shriveling as many varieties are apt to do. In recent 
years cold storage men have come to believe that apples should go 
into storage as soon as picked. Reports indicate that with many fall 
varieties, as McIntosh, Oldenburg, and others, it is desirable to go 
* Bul. 248; same in Rpt. 23:267 (1904). 
