10 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 360 



Refrigerated storages are often located on farms but sometimes are built at 

 central points to offer custom service to a group of growers. They vary greatly 

 in capacity from 2,000 bushels to 100,000 bushels or more. 



Before deciding to build a refrigerated storage a grower would do well not only 

 to consider the advantages of a farm-located storage as listed in this bulletin, 

 but to examine carefully the economic features involved. If building solely for 

 individual use, the storage should be limited in capacity to about 60 percent 

 of the present or expected average production. 



The advantages of a farm-located storage are: 



1. Apples go into storage promptly after picking. With early and mid-season 

 varieties the harvest date coincides with relatively warm weather, so that ripen- 

 ing or softening proceeds very rapidly after picking. With late varieties this 

 factor is not so important. 



2. Apples go into storage with a minimum of handling and hauling. 



3. The fruit is under the direct care of the owner and being near at hand may 

 be graded and packed more conveniently than if located in a distant storage. 

 With present transportation facilities most farms are relatively close to market 

 outlets. 



4. Apples may usually be stored on the farm at a lower cost than in a com- 

 mercial storage. The commercial storage located in the city has heavy overhead 

 charges due to high land and building costs, with high labor and management 

 expenses. These costs are reduced to a minimum in a farm storage. Estimates 

 of storage costs are given in the sections dealing with common and refrigerated 

 storages. 



AIR-COOLED STORAGE 



It is inadvisable to depend on air-cooled storage for holding Mcintosh apples 

 later than January 1, or Baldwin or other late varieties after March 1, but many 

 small growers catering to local trade, either roadside stand or retail store, are 

 successfully holding apples in air-cooled storage for the periods mentioned and 

 selling satisfactory fruit at market prices. Fruit from air-cooled storages going 

 into market in competition with cold storage fruit usually, although not always, 

 sells at lower prices. 



Requirements of Common Storage 



Four conditions must be met in providing an efficient air-cooled storage. 

 L The structure must be frost-proof. 



2. The building must be rat-proof. 



3. Provision must be made for cooling the room quickly with outside air. 



4. Provision must be made for maintaining adequate humidit}-. 



These structures may be frost-proofed by earth embankments or by insulated 

 construction above grade. Protection against rats or other rodents can be pro- 

 vided by the use of hardware cloth or sheet metal. Cooling and ventilating may 

 be done in one of three ways: (a) by natural air movement, (b) by an ex- 

 haust fan, or (c) by a fan to blow air into the room. Adequate humidity may be 

 maintained by the natural moisture of a damp earth floor or by sprinkling. 



In most instances air-cooled storages are developed by renovating and re- 

 modeling barn basements or abandoned cellar holes. Sometimes an aboveground 

 building is used. Occasionally new buildings are built fcir this purpose. 



