38 FRUIT-GROWER, ST. JOSEPH, MO. 



up that matter here, especially as very few apple 

 growers ever undertake to build such storage houses. 



The ordinary practice in dealing with cold storage 

 is for the grower or buyer of the apples to send them 

 to a refrigerating house in the city. Space in these 

 houses is rented. The ordinary price is from thirty 

 to fifty cents a barrel for the season. A certain tem- 

 perature is guaranteed. The apples may then be 

 removed whenever the owner desires. 



It Should be clearly understood by everyone who 

 undertakes the cold storage of apples that the func- 

 tion of the storage house is merely to maintain a 

 uniform temperature of a desired degree throughout 

 the compartment and during the storage season. 

 Cold storage will not make number one fruit out 

 of number two; nor will it altogether prevent the 

 natural process of deterioration. It simply checks 

 the ordinary processes of decay. It appears that 

 many persons have expected too much of cold storage 

 in the past. 



While it is not necessary for the apple grower to 

 know about the different systems of mechanical 

 refrigeration, it is, nevertheless, a matter of consid- 

 erable interest to him. Storage rooms are sometimes 

 cooled directly with ice, although the direct cooling 

 systems are not in very common use. Usually the 

 rooms are cooled by the evaporation of the liquid 

 gases. This gas is allowed to evaporate in or near 

 the storage room and during its evaporation it takes 

 up the heat from the room or fruit stored in it, 

 thereby lowering the temperature. 



The following description of the methods usually 

 employed is taken from Mr. G. Harold Powell's bul- 

 letin entitled "The Apple in Cold Storage." 



The refrigerating gases generally used are anhy- 

 drous ammonia, sulphuric acid, and carbonic acid 

 (also known as carbon anhydrid and carbon dioxid). 



