loth March, A. D. 1904. 



ESSAY 



BY 



JOHN W. CLARK, North Hadley, Mass. 



Theme: — Cold Storage for the Orchardist. 



Commercial orcharding on an extended scale is of recent date 

 and the markets of today, instead of depending on the local 

 supply as in years past, receive fruits from the most distant 

 parts of our land. 



This has been made possible by the increase of railroads 

 and adoption of refrigerator cars and cold storage, which makes 

 possible the marketing of the most perishable fruits hundreds 

 and even thousands of miles from the place they were grown. 



Passing over the benefit cold storage is to fruit growers in 

 other parts of our land, let us see what advantage can be de- 

 rived from it in the handling and marketing of the products 

 of our orchards. 



The old way of storing the apple crop in cellars and ordinary 

 buildings, subject to the daily variations of temperature, is 

 becoming a thing of the past among the most progressive 

 orchardists, as too uncertain and wasteful; and in their place 

 houses are being built especially for storing fruits, where the 

 inside temperature can be controlled and held without variation 

 at the desired point. 



In taking up this subject of cold storage let it be distinctly 

 understood that cold storage does not of itself add anything 

 to the quality, quantity or value of the fruit. It simply holds 

 the fruit without variation at a certain degree of temperature 

 (with the apple 32° F. is considered the best), and dees net 

 insure against loss from decay or spread of disease. 



