COLD STORAGE OF FRUITS 



STORAGE OF PEARS AND APPLES. 



BULLETIN 123 of the Ontario Agri- 

 cultural College, by J. B. Rey- 

 nolds and H. L. Hutt, treats of an 

 experiment with cold storage of pears and 

 apples, which will be of interest to many of 

 our readers. We give below a summary of 

 the bulletin, a complete copy of which may 

 be obtained upon application to the college. 

 The two fruits made use of for this ex- 

 periment were the Duchess pear and the Fa- 

 meuse or Snow apple, and the conditions ex- 

 perimented upon affecting the keeping of 

 the same were: (i) different tempera- 

 tures; (2) different sizes of fruit, and (3) 

 different styles of packing.. The tempera- 

 tures aimed at were 31 and 38 degrees. The 

 fruit was all first class, but was graded into 

 large and medium sizes. The styles of 

 packing were as follows: 



A. Fruit in an ordinary packing case, 

 holding one-third of a barrel, without wrap- 

 ping paper or filling. 



B. In the case unwrapped, with excelsior 

 at top and bottom. 



C. In case wrapped in tissue paper, with 

 excelsior top and bottom and between the 

 layers. 



D. Same as C, except oil paper was used 

 instead of tissue paper. 



E. Same as D, with heavy wrapping paper 

 between box and the fruit, making the box 

 airtight. 



F. In barrel packed in the ordinary way 

 (used on apples only). 



From the results obtained the following 

 conclusions are drawn: 



I. For long storage, the medium-sized 

 grade gives better results than the largest 

 sized grade of fruit. This is evidently a 

 matter of maturity; the larger fruits are on 

 the whole riper than the smaller ones, if 

 picked at the same time. It would there- 



fore appear profitable with choice varieties 

 to pick ■ the larger fruits, if intended for 

 shipping or storing, a week or two earlier 

 than the medium-sized ones. 



2. The style of packing is a most import- 

 ant consideration. The fruit wrapped with 

 either tissue or oiled paper and packed be- 

 tween layers of excelsior gave by far the 

 best results. The wrapping and filling has 

 a two-fold effect of preventing bruises and 

 preventing the spread of decay throughout 

 the package. In the unwrapped fruit three 

 or four decayed specimens were frequently 

 found in a group, showing that decay had 

 spread from one apple to adjoining ones. 



3. The lower temperature is the more fa- 

 vorable one for the long storage of fruit. 

 Further experimenting is necessary to ascer- 

 tain the most suitable temperature for the 

 various classes of fruits, but those under the 

 test kept well at 31 degrees. 



4. Under even the most favorable condi- 

 tions ther'e is a limit beyond which it is un- 

 profitable to hold fruit in storage. Cold 

 storage postpones, but cannot avert, matur- 

 ity and decay. The limit for the Duchess 

 pears was reached between Christmas and 

 New Year's while the Snow apple kept well 

 into March. 



HANDLING OP FRUIT AFTER REMOVAl, FROM 

 COU) STORAGE. 



It has been charged against cold storage 

 that produce quickly deteriorates after being 

 removed from cold storage conditions. That 

 it usually does so, is quite natural. If the 

 produce has been held for a considerable 

 length of time in cold storage, the process 

 of decay has been working, though very 

 slowly. When the produce is removed 

 from the low temperature into surroundings 

 favorable to rapid decay, it is not to be ex- 



