PACKING AND MARKETING FRUITS 41 



the coil room to be recooled and purified and to 

 begin the circuit anew. 



There are many modifications in the details of 

 these systems when applied to storage houses, .but as 

 this publication does not deal primarily with the 

 engineering side of refrigeration it is the purpose to 

 set forth approximately the fundamental principles 

 on which the most common storage systems are 

 based rather than to discuss their application or their 

 respective merits. 



Extensive experiments in the cold storage of fruit, 

 especially apples, carried on by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture under the supervision of 

 Mr. G. Harold Powell, have added materially to our 

 knowledge of the subject in recent years. These 

 experiments have strongly emphasized the import- 

 ance of immediate storage. The fruit should be put 

 into the storage room with the least possible delay 

 after picking. Indeed, we know of one large apple 

 grower who has cooled refrigerator cars standing on 

 the railroad track waiting before picking begins. 

 Just as fast as the fruit can be sorted it is barreled 

 and hauled directly into these refrigerator cars. 

 These cars are run right into the refrigerating house 

 to be unloaded, so that the apples are out of cold 

 storage for only a few hours at most, from the time 

 they are picked until they are sold. 



It used to be thought that a temperature of 40 to 

 42 degrees was best for storing apples, but recent 

 experience has shown conclusively that the temper- 

 ature in the storage chamber should be 31 or 32 

 degrees, and that this should be maintained with 

 the least possible variation throughout the storage 

 season. 



There is a diversity of custom with respect to put- 



. ting up the apples for storage. Usually they are 



stored in barrels, but the reason for this is often that 



