STATE POMOLOGICAIv S0CIE;TY. 53 



double team into. But when we shut it up for winter we have 

 an extra door with an air space in it. 



As an aid to cooHng the apples when they are first put in and 

 for ventilation there is a flue about ten by twelve inches. This 

 opens from the floor opposite the door, goes down four or five 

 feet then runs off about twenty feet into a hollow. There are 

 also two small flues and a movable stairway leading to chamber 

 above. The stairway is so constructed that when the stairs are 

 put up it makes an air space like the rest of the ceiling over head. 

 This ceiling is of two thicknesses of board and one of sheathing 

 paper and the floor of the chamber is made in the same way, 

 making an air space. The underpinning was carefully fitted and 

 a mixture of lime and cement used for pointing. So it is sup- 

 posed to be air-tight, except two small places that were left for 

 ventilation. 



We have been using the house for eleven seasons and have 

 found whether the apples were packed in November, December 

 or February, they have come out in almost perfect condition — 

 except three years ago when the scab and black spot ruined so 

 many, and that year they kept until the last of March when 

 nearly all of them were in as good shape to evaporate as they 

 would have been in the fall. We store them just as they are 

 picked from the trees. In picking we are very careful about 

 bruising, but do not stop to remove any leaves or stems that 

 come off with the apples. 



Our experience leads us to believe that apples can be stored 

 in this way with as little waste as if shipped to cold storage. 

 This largely because they can be put in here immediately after 

 picking. And although not as cold as in the regular cold 

 storage house the evenness of the temperature favors the keep- 

 ing. We have known the house, after once being cooled down 

 to about freezing to remain weeks without changing a degree. 

 One year they were sorted the tenth of November but the buyer 

 decided he would not ship them at that time. They were left 

 in the barrels without heading. At the end of three months, 

 when he wanted them they had kept so perfectly that it was not 

 necessary to re-sort before shipping. 



If an orchard is fitted with a storage house it enables the 

 owner to use his judgment as to when to dispose of his crop 

 instead of being obliged to sell as soon as picked. We made 

 enough in this way on our crop in 1900 to more than pay for the 



