STORAGE OF FRUITS 



97 



Such little cellars as mine, while very handy and good are too 

 small to hold the product of even one full-bearing Apple tree, to say 

 nothing of vegetables, canned goods, meat, eggs and other supplies 

 for an ordinary sized family. Since the construction of a storage 

 cellar beneath a dwelling already erected becomes more and more 

 undesirable as its size increases, both because of the cost and the 

 possibility of tainting the air upstairs, it becomes more and more 

 important, where a larger quantity than a barrel or two of fruits and 

 vegetables must be kept to have a separate storage building. 



Outside or separate storage cellars are almost necessary where 

 the quantities of fruit and vegetables to be stored are large enough to 



Fig. 76. Style of storage house popular in the South where the temperature does not 



go very low 



supply a family of four or more from, say, November to March or 

 April. They are especially desirable on farms since they furnish 

 inexpensive and convenient facilities for saving surplus crops that 

 might otherwise spoil. Though they may not have all the advantages 

 of storage room in the house cellar they excel such rooms in being 

 more easily chilled and kept cold during long periods. Ry opening 

 the door, the windows and the ventilators in the evening and closing 

 them in the morning, whenever the outside temperature is lower than 

 the inside, the storage room may be kept colder than the day tempera- 

 ture and the fruit made to keep well. Whenever the day temperature 

 outside is lower than that inside the cellar the door, windows and 

 ventilators should also be opened, the idea being to take advantage of 

 every fall of temperature to lower that of the fruit. This opening 

 may continue until the outside temperature goes down to, say, 30 to 

 28 degrees, that is, two to four degrees below freezing point, for Apples 

 and Pears are not injured by so slight a degree if in close packages and 

 if the duration of this temperature is only a few hours. 



