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June, 1910 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



137 



Ice Storage on Fruit Farms* 



J. A. Ruddick, Dairy and Cold Storage Commissioner, Ottawa 



I BELIEVE that a small room where 

 berries and tender fruits could be 

 cooled, held over Sunday, etc., would 

 be a very useful adjunct to many fruit 

 farms. I would not advocate a low tem- 

 perature for such rooms, possibly not 

 lower than fifty degrees, because of the 

 damage that would result from "sweat- 

 ing" when the fruit was removed for 

 shipping if lower temperatures were em- 

 ployed. At a temperature of fifty, it 

 would be practicable to have a cement 

 concrete floor and to get some cooling 

 from that source, which is a great ad- 

 vantage. 



The walls should have one course of 

 matched lumber and siding on the out- 





Aw\ 



^ 





/floor 



SectioD of Ice Cooler 



side, with damp-proof paper between, 

 and double boarding and paper on the in- 

 side, with a space of twelve inches be- 

 tween the inside and outside sheathing 

 to be filled with shavings. About one- 

 third of the building should be set aside 

 for the ice chamber with a partition be- 

 tween the ice chamber and cooling room 

 with same insulation as for the outside 

 walls. An additional course of matched 

 lumber on the inside, making a one-inch 

 air space, is advisable for the ice cham- 

 ber. The air space in this case is to pre- 

 vent moisture from the ice penetrating 

 the insulation. 



The floor of the ice chamber should be 

 constructed in the same manner as the 

 floor in the basement of the cold storage, 

 (See last issue of The Canadian Horti- 

 cilturist), with a slope of one inch in 

 four feet to a gutter at one side to provide 

 drainage from the melting ice. The 

 drainage outlet must be trapped to pre- 

 vent the passage of air. The floor of the 

 ice chamber should be covered with a 

 wooden grating on which the ice will 

 rest. No covering or packing material 

 is used on or around the ice in such a 

 chamber. Provision is made by means of 

 openings in the partition between the ice- 

 chamber and the cooling room, at the ceil- 

 ing and near the floor, for the circulation 

 of air through the cooling room and over 

 the ice. As the air is chilled, it deposits 

 some of its moisture on the surface of the 

 ice, thus making a fairly dry cold stor- 

 age. Neither the ice chamber nor the 

 cooling room should be ventilated. The 

 air is changed suflicienly by the occas- 

 ional opening of the door. Ventilation 



•Part of a paper road at thp last convention of 

 the Ontario Fruit Growers' ABHociation. Mechan- 

 ical refrigeration was dealt with in the Kay Ib- 



means the introduction of warm moisture- 

 laden air, which causes dampness. The 

 circulation over the ice tends to keep the 

 air purified. 



It is permissible to have small windows 

 in the cooling room, but they should be 

 located at the ceiling, and have at least 

 double sash, each double glazed. There 

 should be an ante room which can be 

 used for storing empties, tools, etc. 



Fruit growers will be able to determine 

 individaully whether one of these cooling 

 rooms would be of use to them or not. 



Mistaken Ideas in Fruit Growing 



B. H. Lee, Berwick, N.S. 



Last season was very warm and fruit 

 for some reason did not keep or ship 

 well. Many lots of choice apples left 

 here and arrived in England in very poor 

 condition. This is not an unusual thing in 

 ordinary years, but last season there were 

 very few reports of apples arriving in 

 good condition. There were some lots, 

 however, which did arrive in good condi- 

 tion and brought most excellent prices. 

 This was especially noticeable in the case 

 of one of our Kings County growers, and 

 has led a great many of his neighbors to 

 the conclusion that they are making a 

 mistake in not adopting his methods, 

 which are not generally considered or- 

 thodox among fruit growers. 



His methods, briefly, are: Keeping the 

 orchard partly in sod ; leaving a strip ten 

 or twelve feed wide in sod at the trees, 

 and cultivating and fertilizing the re- 



mainder ; very little or no pruning ; pick- 

 ing the fruit as soon as the seeds com- 

 mence to turn black ; and storing in a 

 cool place. As a result he gets a med- 

 ium sized but very much firmer apple 

 which carries well and has for a number 

 of years brought the highest prices and 

 last season netted him more money per 

 barrel than any company or individual 

 shipper. 



We are growing what has always been 

 considered by us a much better fruit, as 

 we have been educated to believe that the 

 large apple (colored well, if possible) is 

 what we need. Money is what talks in 

 this business and this man's success 

 seems to proclaim with no uncertain 

 sound that we are making the mistake of 

 catering to the English market with an 

 overgrown apple that will not stand the 

 knocks it is bound to get in transit. In 

 such a season as last, it is sure to carry 

 bad. On the other hand, we will make 

 no mistake if we put such fruit upon our 

 local markets, which demand the kind of 

 apple we are growing. 



The varieties intended for foreign ship- 

 ments should be planted in blocks, so that 

 they may be given the treatment requir- 

 ed. Pruning and thinning, under these 

 conditions and with some varieties, may 

 not be such important factors as some 

 would lead us to believe. 



We are making a mistake in not get- 

 ting after the younger trees and heading 

 them in so as to more easily spray, prune 

 and pick. Many farmers are still clip- 

 ping off all fruit spurs near the trunk and 

 compelling the fruit to develop at the 

 top of the tree and at the tips of the 

 branches. 



Cnltivativg Ilia Apple Oichatd ia OaUrio in tk* ijpriag 

 On (arm of Hr. V. C. Hoar, BownuuiTUle, Ont. 



