172 THE AMERICAN APPLE ORCHARD 



the ground, in bulk in the haymow, in bins in the cel- 

 lar, and in various other ways. Nearly all of these 

 old-fashioned ways are still practiced to some extent, 

 although they have very little influence on the modern 

 apple business. 



Following these crude methods of storage there 

 came into practice a few years ago different methods 

 of handling apples in specially made storage houses. 

 At the beginning these were seldom or never sup- 

 plied with artificial refrigeration. The theory of con- 

 struction was simply to provide a well-insulated wall 

 and then to cool down the storage chamber by ven- 

 tilation. Such houses or storage compartments are 

 now all classed together under the name "common 

 storage," which is distinguished from "cold storage," 

 the latter referring to such houses or chambers as are 

 supplied with artificial refrigeration. 



There has been a strong tendency in the last few 

 years to do away with the common storage in favor 

 of the genuine cold storage. Great improvements 

 have undoubtedly been made in the process of cold 

 storage, and the matter is much better understood 

 than it was a few years ago. Such storage is there- 

 fore both safer and cheaper. Nevertheless the com- 

 mon storage has not altogether gone out of use. One 

 of the largest dealers in New York state a man of 

 wide practical experience in all systems of storage 

 recently told the writer that he would as soon have 

 apples in common storage as in the best cold storage. 

 This is perhaps an extreme view, but it shows that 

 the difference between the two systems is not so great 

 as we have sometimes been led to believe. 



The construction of a house for common storage 

 may best be understood by examining one or two con- 



