1732 



STORAGE 



STORAGE 



transportation to the storage rooms. No perishable fruit 

 that has been exposed to ordinary temperatures for 

 twenty-four hours after picking is in fit condition for 

 storage. Too many people have made the mistake of 

 supposing that by placing fruits on ice they could, as it 

 were, rejuvenate them and that they would come out 

 sound and firm even if at the point of decay when they 

 •went in. It should be borne in mind that the life or 

 keeping quality of any fruit is self-limited, that the 

 processes of ripening and subsequent deterioration are 

 constantly going forward, and that the best that we can 

 do by cold storage is to retard them; we cannot prevent 

 them entirely. 



These considerations apply with equal force to the 

 storage of those fruits that are naturally good keepers. 

 Grapes and pears, if the weather is warm, should always 

 be shipped to the point of storage in refrigerator cars, 

 and in many cases this would doubtless be profitable 

 even with apples. A week of warm weather after apples 

 are gathered and while they are in transit will inevi- 

 tably so stimulate the ripening processes as to greatly 

 impair their subsequent keeping quality, especially their 

 ability to stand up and make a good showing after com- 

 ing out of storage. Then, too, the exposure for even a 

 few days to warm conditions after picking is sure to 

 stimulate the growth of fungi and bacteria, thus start- 

 ing many spots of incipient decay that cannot be en- 

 tirely checked by subsequent refrigeration. It is prob- 

 ably safe to say that the keeping quality of any given 

 lot of apples depends as much on its history during the 

 period from the time of picking till it goes into storage 

 as upon any other factor. p g Earle. 



Management, Temperatures and Prices. — The rapid 

 advancement of the cold storage industry should be of 

 great interest to the horticulturist. It is now possible 

 to secure all the benefits, with a comparatively small 

 investment. Mechanical refrigeration is best accom- 

 plished by employing what is known as the compression 

 ammonia process. Anhydrous ammonia, i. e., ammonia 

 free from water and held in liquid form only under great 

 pressure, is allowed to expand and vaporize in pipes 

 submerged in brine. The ammonia, in changing from 

 a liquid to a gaseous condition, absorbs the heat from 

 the liquid in which the pipes are submerged. In this 

 manner it can be brought to a temperature of zero, or 

 lower. This cold liquid (brine) is circulated through 

 pipes placed in the room or rooms that are to be re- 

 frigerated. The ammonia, after absorbing its quota of 

 heat, is again compressed to a liquid condition by me- 

 chanical means and used over and over without limit. 

 Any liquid that boils at a very low temperature can be 

 substituted for ammonia, but at the present, viewed 

 from an economical and practical standpoint, ammonia 

 is given the preference. The temperature of a storage 

 room is controlled by the volume and temperature of 

 the brine circulated. 



2411. The piling of barrels of apple 



i cold storage house. 



Apples are best preserved at a temperature of 30° F., 

 two below the freezing point. It is generally conceded 

 that they should be taken from the tree as soon as ma- 

 tured and colored, immediately put in a cold room and 

 the above temperature maintained until they are taken 



out to be placed on the market. They will come out 

 with a minimum amount of decay, crisp, full-flavored, 

 and in condition to "stand up" much longer than if car- 

 ried at a higher temperature. Bartlett pears put in 

 while green and as soon as the stem will cleave from 

 the twig, at a temperature of 32°-33°, carry for two 

 months to ten weeks. Ventilated barrels are sometimes 



2412. Re-sorting apple 



, storehou 



used, but slatted bushel crates are preferable. Winter 

 or late varieties of pears will carry much longer. 

 Peaches and other stone fruits will take a temperature 

 of 30° and are not, as a rule, carried successfully to ex- 

 ceed two weeks. They are very deceptive; thd outside 

 will appear satisfactory, but the fruit will be tasteless, 

 and around the pit it will be black and in a semi-de- 

 cayed condition. Berries, one week to ten days at a 

 temperature of 38°, will, if they are not bruised or 

 broken, carry nicely and many times tide over an over- 

 stocked market. 



Tomatoes, if sound, not broken or bruised, picked be- 

 fore they are thoroughly ripe, will, at a temperature of 

 40°, carry three to five weeks. Celery, if dry and sound, 

 should, at a temperature of 34°, carry from three to four 

 months. Vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips and tur- 

 nips, at a temperature of 34°, carry successfully until 

 June or July; if decay has set in before the products are 

 placed in cold storage it will not be entirely stopped 

 but only arrested in a moderate degree, and to obtain 

 any measure of success nothing but sound, perfect 

 goods should be placed in the refrigerating rooms. 



The following are the charges usually applied by those 

 conducting public cold storages: Apples, 15 cents per 

 bbl. first month, 10 cents each additional month; celery, 

 10 cents per case first month, 6 cents each additional 

 month; cherries, K cent per lb.; grapes, % cent per lb. 

 first month, 1-5 cent each additional month ; maple sugar, 

 H cent per lb. first month, % cent each additional month; 

 pears, per bbl., same as apples; per X A bbl., 10 cents first 

 month, 7 cents each additional month; pears in bushel 

 crates, same as in K bbls.; quinces, same as apples; 

 vegetables, 25 cents per bbl. first month, 15 cents each 

 additional month; vegetables, per case, 15 cents first 

 month, 10 cents each additional month. If in very large 

 quantities, season rates are sometimes made at com- 

 paratively lower rates. 



Mechanical refrigeration is surely of paramount im- 

 portance to the producers of vegetables, fruits, eggs, 

 butter, etc. It provides a means by which they are not 

 compelled to accept ruinous prices of an overstocked 

 market, nor obliged to sell when products are harvested, 

 regardless of price, nor to force their products on the 

 market in such quantities as to cause a glut. Instead of 

 having supplies that must be sold within a few days, 

 the horticulturist can, by taking advantage of mechani- 

 cal refrigeration, extend the market season fully 50 per 

 cent, or until such time as the demand equals the supply. 

 Samuel R. Mott, Jr. 



Practical Experience with Cold Storage. -The expe- 

 rience of those who have had occasion to use cold 

 storage is remarkably varied, scarcely two of them 

 having formed the same impression in regard to its 

 effect. But the very fact that perishable articles have 

 been preserved for long periods shows that there is at 

 least one right way, and the managers of cold storage 

 plants are learning what that right way is. 



One great trouble has been that hardly two articles 

 require the same temperature to keep in proper condi- 



