100 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral EditUm. 



Success and Failure in Cold Storage* 



S. J. T. Bu8>i, Morton, N.Y. 



THE cold storage business is of great 

 importance to the fruit industry, but 

 Is very little understood or appre- 

 ciated by growers generally. If it were not 

 for the cold storage houses holding the 

 bulk of the apple crop every year and per- 

 mitting it to be placed upon the market 

 gradually, there would be mighty little 

 "present," to say nothing of a future, to 

 the apple industry in the United States. 



The common storage limit is usually 

 February first, but in chemical plants it is 

 common practice to successfully hold ap- 

 ples into May and June. Just consider for 

 a moment what the conditions would have 

 been In 1914, with the enormous crop, had 

 It been necessary to market it all by Febru- 

 ary first. As it was, we were able to sell 

 "A" grade Baldwins from cold storage early 

 in June for ?6.00 and $6.50 per barrel, and 

 got as high as $4.00 for "B" grade. 



My experience in the storing of apples 

 has not been extensive, although I am now 

 very much interested in that business, hav- 

 ing organized a comipany two years ago and 

 built last year at Morton, N.Y., what is con- 

 ceded to be one of the finest and most up- 

 to-date plants in this country. Our idea 

 was from the start to make it a GROWERS* 

 storage, and we have among our 125 stock- 

 holders practically every grower an that 

 vicinity. To begin with, this gives us 

 enough apples produced by our own stock- 

 holders to fill our 60,000-barrel plant in any 

 ordinary season. We did not get the plant 

 completed In time to use it last year, but 

 being of reinforced concrete construction, 

 this was really a good thing, as the building 

 had nearly a year to dry out and was in the 

 finest possible condition when we com- 

 menced business in August. Building opera- 

 tions should begin not later than April first 

 on a plant of this kind if it is to be ready 

 for use in September or October. 



We spent three months and hundreds of 

 dollars in travelling about the country In- 

 specting various plants, interviewing own- 

 ers and managers, and consulting with 

 manufacturers of refrigerating machinery. 

 Our idea is that the place for economy Is In 

 operation of a plant and not in construction, 

 and we carried through the project from 

 start to finish with the idea of getting the 

 best that money would buy. 



We were told by cold storage engineers 

 that 100 horse power was altogther suffi- 

 cient for our requirements, but we installed 

 three 75-horse power units; we were told 

 that two Inches of cork insulation was suffi- 

 cient, but we put on four Inches, in two 

 2-lnch sheets with broken joints; we were 

 told that one system, i.e., the direct expan- 

 sion ammonia system, was all we couid 

 possibly have any use for, but we, in addi- 

 tion to that system, installed the most 

 elaborate cold air circulating system to be 

 found in any plant In this country. This 

 gives us two separate and distinct re- 

 frigerating systems, enabling us to carry a 

 wider range of commodities and to keep the 

 air in all rooms sweet and pure at all times 

 — carry oft the accumulation of gases 

 thrown off by the fruit and prevent the 

 "pocketing" of dead or foul air In any of 

 the rooms. 



We were told that It was possible to build 

 a 60,000-barrel house at a maximum cost of 

 $1.50 per barrel of capacity, but we found 

 that a first class plant of the capacity men- 

 tioned cannot be built for a cent less than 



^* An ai3dr«S3 delivered at the recent annual 

 bnventlon of the Niagara District Fruit Qrow- 

 fg .AstiOTi/ftlon. 



$2.00 per barrel, and for a plant as com- 

 plete as ours the cost is $2.50 per barrel. 



So far as I know, ours is the only plant 

 in the country using producer gas for power 

 — also the only one of its size using a maxi- 

 mum of one ton of coal per day. Other 

 plants of similar capacity in Western New 

 York use from four to six tons of coal daily. 



The fact that we are now able, with the 

 plant filled to its utmost capacity, and with 

 carloads of fruit coming in and going out 

 daily, to hold our temperatures without 

 variation and only operate one engine and 

 one ice machine from two to six hours of 

 each twenty-four, Is sufficient justification 

 for our heavy expenditure for the best pos- 

 sible insulation. Our plant being absolutely 

 fireproof, there being no wood about it ex- 

 cept the refrigerator doors, we enjoy an 

 insurance rate of thirty cents against a rate 

 of from $1.00 to $1.75 (usually the latter 

 figure) applying to other plants in the State. 



As fruit growers, having experienced in 

 common with our friends in other sections 

 and States the most inefficient refrigeration 

 -service on the part of the railway com- 

 panies, we decided to have our own' ice 

 plant and manufacture our own Ice and ice 

 our own ears. This feature has proven lo 

 be one of the most satisfactory as well as 

 one of the most profitable features of our 

 proposition. Instead of being compelled to 

 accept a refrigerator car that had been Iced 

 inadequately and improperly from twenty- 

 four to seventy-two hours before we got It, 

 and being forced to pay for all the ice the 

 bunkers could hold, notwithstanding the fact 

 that we never got it, we are able to ice 

 our cars to capacity with a far better quality 

 of ice than that supplied by the railway 

 company, and at a lower cost, and when our 

 cars leave Morton the bunkers are full, in- 

 stead of from one-third to three-quarters 

 empty as in the past. 



In building our plant, we had In mind Its 

 enlargement at the least possible cost as 

 soon as conditions warranted the outlay. We 

 can double the capacity now without in- 

 creasing our power plant a single horse 

 power. 



We manufacture our own electric current 

 for the operation of two large thirty-barrel 

 elevators, hoisting machinery, lighting sys- 

 tem, pumps, grading machines, air cir- 

 culating system, etc. We also expect to 

 furnish light for the village of Morton as 

 soon as we can get to it. We operate me- 

 chanical fruit grading machines for our 

 patrons in large, well-lighted, convenient 

 packing rooms by electric power. 



The establishment of such a plant In a 

 large producing section is of inestimable 

 value to the growers. It makes them inde- 

 pendent of the "dealer" or speculator. 

 When harvest tame arrives, they know that 

 they have as good a place in which to hold 

 their fruit in case the market is unsatis- 

 factory as the dealer can have. It is really 

 worth, conservatively speaking, fifty cents 

 per barrel on their entire crop. 



If the grower needs money with which to 

 pay his help and running expenses, he can 

 do just what practically all the dealers do, 

 take his warehouse receipts to his bank and 

 get an advance of from 50c to $1.50 per bar- 

 rel and hold his fruit until the market suits 

 him. 



Another great advantage to the growers 

 in having such a plant is the facility it af- 

 fords for the accumulation of small lots of 

 fruit into carloads, which is precisely what 

 the dealer does — precooling it as it is col- 

 lected and shipping it out in the very best 



possible condition to carry well to marKei. 



We are particularly fortunate at Morton 

 In having an apparently inexhaustible sup- 

 ply of sweet, pure, cold water, obtained 

 from wells within one hundred feet of our 

 engine room. Ability to use this water 

 direct from the wells at a temperature of 

 fifty-one degrees, and allow it to run away. 

 Increases the efficiency of our ice machines 

 about forty per cent. 



As I have said, our proposition at Morton 

 is a growers' proposition. Three years ago 

 I organized the Eastern Fruit and Produce 

 Exchange, with headquarters at Rochester, 

 which supplies our growers with the most 

 complete sales machinery. Next came the 

 cold storage plant, and now we are organlz 

 ing a bank, and in due course will come 

 the cooper shop, canning factory, dehy- 

 drating plant, and vinegar factory, with coal 

 sheds and fertilizer and basket storages. 



We are after every nickle that is to be 

 obtained from our business. 



We believe that duty and common sense 

 demand that we do our own speculating, 

 and that when It comes to a division of the 

 proceeds and profits obtainable from the 

 results of our toil and investment, thai 

 division should be with our own families, 

 and not with those who have taken no risk, 

 borne no hardships, and suffered no 

 anxieties as the seasons have come ana 

 gone. 



One of the things that surprised me and 

 vexed me greatly when I was trying to col- 

 lect definite information upon which to base 

 plans for our plant was the great difficulty 

 experienced in finding anyone from whom 

 positive and reliable advice could be ob- 

 tained. If we had not been possessed with 

 a determination to know all the "whys and 

 w^herefores" before going ahead with our 

 plans, I hate to contemplate the mistakes 

 we might have made. 



There are so many things done absolutely 

 wrong in many of the plants we visited that 

 I am Impelled to utter a friendly warning to 

 my fellow growers and to extend to them all 

 an invitation to visit our plant at Morton 

 and to secure from us the benefit of all 

 that we have learned at a cost of much time 

 and money. We will be only too glad to be 

 of assistance. 



There are a few "donts" that occur to us 

 as worth while to pass along to our friends 

 who may soon or sometime be interested in 

 the building of a cold storage plant. 



1. Don't use wood — use reinforced con- 

 crete, because of the low insurance rate, low 

 cost of upkeep, and lack of depreciation. 



2. Don't use granulated cork, as it is of 

 little value as compared with sheet cork. 



3. Don't allow the contractor to use steel 

 nulls in putting up the sheet cork Insulation, 

 as has been done in many, if not most of 

 the plants throughout the country, because 

 it is a perfectly absurd performance and 

 largely destroys the value and efficiency of 

 your insulation. Use nothing but wooden 

 nails, as they are non-conductors. How 

 anyone possessed of any common sense 

 could be induced to pay from $25,000 to 

 $30,000 for high-grade insulation and then 

 permit workmen to literally fill it full of 

 holes, which is really what happens when 

 the cork is fastened in place with thousands 

 of steel nails, is beyond our comprehension. 



4. Don't make the mistake of having too 

 little packing room space. 



5. Don't build your plant so that the long 

 way of your cold rooms will be away from 

 the railroad, but rather have the trucking 

 distance just as short as possible. Labor 

 in handling such a plant is a very large Item. 

 At Morton this year we have operated our 

 plant with one-half to one-third the number 

 of employees that are used in plants of simi- 

 lar capacity in western New York. 



6. Don't make the mistake of having nar- i 



