266 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



STORING AND MARKETING APPLES. 



BY JAS. L. REACH, INDIANAPOLIS. 



The apple, from the Garden of Edeu to the present time, has been 

 known as the King of Fruits. The market for apples has been enlarged 

 by the increased demand in Europe for both fresh and dried fruit, and 

 the home markej; has grown through the advanced method of handling 

 the crop, including the manufactured product. Enough has been said 

 on the staple standing of the crop in the commercial column. Suffice it 

 to say that commission merchants will readily make liberal cash ad- 

 vances on a prospective crop and banks will advance three-fourths the 

 market value on the warehouse receipts for apples stored in public ware- 

 houses. The method of evaporating apples has done much to develop 

 the trade, as our evaporated apples And their way inta the markets of 

 the world, and with the cold storage facilities, evaporated apples may 

 be carried for several years with slight deterioration. All parts of the 

 apple have a commercial value. The skins and cores are evaporated 

 and find a market at home and abroad to makei's of jellies, as it is pos- 

 sible today to make a superior quality of any flavored jelly from the 

 peels and cores of the apple, and the bulk of the cheaper grades of manu- 

 factured jellies and fruit butters are today made from the peels and 

 cores of apples. Cider manufacturers have made rapid strides in the 

 manufacture and preservation of cider and a large quantity of the in- 

 ferior or lower grades of apples are thus consumed. The canning indus- 

 try has grown to be an important factor in the market, and they are 

 heavy buyers, with a large home and foreign demand. Cold storage for 

 the packing and preservation of the fresh fruit enables the packing and 

 holding of the surplus crop and an equal distribution throughout the 

 season, thereby avoiding gluts. 



In the large apple producing sections, cold storage plants have been 

 erected for the purpose of further facilitating the storing and marketing 

 of the crop and obviating the heavy losses formerly sustained by shipping 

 in the fall to distant points, as well as delays in securing cars, and also 

 railroad blockades. The successful storing and marketing of apples large- 

 ly depends on the careful handling in picking and packing. To be stored 

 successfully, they must be perfect, as the expense is too great to justify 

 the consideration of storing poor stuff, or stuff that has been poorly 

 handled. The secret to cold storage is to delay decomposition. This is 

 done by a steadj' low temperature of dry air, which is acquired by arti- 

 ficial means. The ammonia system most largely in use has given satis- 

 factory results. The temperature most common and the one agreed on 

 by most practical authorities is thirty-one degrees Fahrenheit. You will 

 note this is one degree below freezing, but apples stand the temperature. 



