FRUIT STORAGE 93 



large cities where from 50 to 150 carloads of fruit are 

 consumed every day. Without cold storage it would be 

 impossible to supply a great many kinds of fruit or any 

 one kind for a very long period of time. 



For the most part such storage houses are operated by 

 capitalists and are usually incorporated under the laws 

 of some of the states. They work independently, for 

 the most part, of the producers, simply acting as agents, 

 agreeing to keep a certain temperature for a certain con- 

 sideration and seldom acting as a selling agent for the 

 owners of the stored goods. Such storage plants are 

 very expensive, costing at the least $100,000 and rang- 

 ing from that up to two or three millions. 



Control of Temperature. All of the fruit storage 

 houses must be provided with proper means of control- 

 ling temperature. Most fruits require a low tempera- 

 ture for keeping. When removed from the tree, this 



Fig. 80. A LARGE PUBLIC COLD STORAGE 



