THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Plums differ much in their behavior in 

 cold storage. Robinson and Weaver, very 

 juicy varieties, were kept from three to four 

 weeks. With such varieties decay proceeds 

 very rapidly when once it has begun. Less 

 watery sorts, as Golden Beauty and More- 

 man, were kept in the station cooling" room, 

 which had an irregular temperature averag- 

 ing about 50° F. for more than a month. 



Weizerka, a meaty, prune-like variety, 

 kept for a still longer time. 



Tomatoes, picked when just beginning to 

 redden, wrapped separately in tissue paper 

 and placed in a crate packed on the bottom 

 and top with excelsior, were kept about two 

 months. Green tomatoes may be held in 

 storage for several months, but when re- 

 moved instead of ripening, they simply rot. 



Tests were made with cucumbers, but, 

 contrary to expectation, they did not keep 

 well. " With our present knowledge," says 

 the Kansas Station, "we can not regard 

 the cucumber as a success in cold storage." 



In recent experiments in England, accord- 

 ing to the Journal of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, the storage chambers were fitted with 

 tiers of galvanized wire shelves around the 

 sides and the fruit was placed on cotton wool. 



It was found that strawberries could be 

 kept for at least three weeks in a temper- 

 ature of 30°, but it was necessary to sur- 



round the fruit with cotton wool, or, in the 

 case of fruit in sieves, to place a pad of that 

 material over the top. When this precau- 

 tion was not taken, the fruit, though sound, 

 became dull and lost the fresh inviting 

 appearance which is so important when it is 

 offered for sale. Black currants kept well 

 for ten days, after which they began to 

 shrivel, but plumped and freshened on 

 exposure to the air so as to be marketable. 

 This was especially the case with black cur- 

 rants that had been stored in market sieves 

 covered with a wad of cotton wool. After 

 a fortnight's storage, the temperature was 

 raised from 30° to 32° F., and this seemed 

 to give the best results. The experiments 

 with red currants were an unqualified suc- 

 cess, the fruit remaining perfectly sound for 

 six weeks, and maintaining its freshness 

 when exposed to a normal temperature for 

 sixteen hours. Cherries covered with wool 

 kept for a month at a temperature of 30°, 

 and at 36° were not only sound, sweet and 

 juicy, but fresh and clear. After the fourth 

 week the fruit began to wrinkle. * * * 



Green gages were kept in excellent con- 

 dition for ten weeks and Victoria plums kept 

 for nine weeks, but the cooking varieties of 

 plums, with that exception, did not lend 

 themselves satisfactory to cold storage. — 

 Kansas Expt. Sia. Bui. 



PACKING APPLES FOR EXPORT. 



O much has been said and written 

 about the importance of packing 

 apples carefully and honestly that 

 ^ it might seem almost like a useless 

 repetition to refer to the subject again. 

 Yet the conditions this year are somewhat 

 unusual and it is therefore worth while to 

 study them with unusual care. The facts 

 are about as follows — The world's crop of 

 apples is an exceptionally large one, perhaps 

 the largest in the history of the industry, • 



and this in spite of the large quantities that 

 were blown from the trees during the recent 

 high winds. On the other hand the crop of 

 Nova Scotia is probably not so large as last 

 year and certainly not of as high quality. 

 The black spot has been unusually prevalent 

 the past season and apples are spotted and 

 cracked as they have not been tor some years, 

 and everyone who has ever had the least ex- 

 perience in packing such fruit knows that it 

 is well nigh impossible, even with the best 



