1728 



STORAGE 



STORAGE 



"The fruit house is built on high and dry ground. 

 The cellar was three feet, and dirt taken from this was 

 used to bank up around the wall. The wall is solid 

 stone and mortar, is 5 feet high, 2% feet wide at the 

 bottom, and 2 feet at the top; 2-inch plank for sills on 

 this, bedded in mortar, doubled so as to break joints; 

 2 by 4 studding above this ; outside of studding matched 

 pine, then paper, and then clapboards, painted; in 

 middle of studding, lath and plaster; inside of studding, 

 matched pine, then paper, and then K-inch sheathing, 

 painted. This gives two hollow walls, or dead-air 

 spaces. For ventilating, there is one ventilator from cel- 

 lar to the observatory on top of building, which has 

 four large window frames, with blinds, but no tight 

 windows. The ventilator opens into both storage rooms. 

 We have three 18-inch windows on east and west sides 

 of building in the cellar, and three large windows in 

 west side, next to storeroom. Both floors are double, 

 with paper between, and the second room is ceiled over- 

 head with matched spruce, and painted. The two win- 

 dows on east side show in cut, with the outside doors." 



The following sketch of a home storage plant is re- 

 printed from Bull. 74, W. Va. Experiment Station, by 



2405. Grape storehouse, with packing-rooms on first floor, 



L. C. Corbett: "In localities where field stone are 

 plentiful, a satisfactory, durable and moderate - cost 

 house can be built in the form of a bank cellar by using 

 these stone in cement, making a grout wall. Such a 

 wall can be constructed by unskilled workmen if prop- 

 erly laid out in the beginning. The plan to follow is to 

 use broad 2-inch planks, held in place by substantial 

 staging to form a box having a width of the thickness 

 of the desired wall say 18 or 22 inches. Into this box 

 lay the dry stones, arranging them somewhat if large, 

 but if small they may be thrown in with a shovel. Put 

 in a layer 6 to 10 inches thick, then pour in thin mortar 

 composed of good lime and cement until the box is filled 

 sufficiently to imbed the stone. Repeat the operation, 

 moving the planks upwards as the mortar sets until a 

 wall of desired height has been built. Silo walls have 

 been built in this fashion which were 22 feet tall, and 

 were as solid as one continuous stone when completed. 

 The mortar must be thin and rich in lime or cement. 

 Lime will answer, but it is slower to set than cement, 

 and for that reason less desirable. Such a wall can be 

 built for about one-half the cost of the ordinary rubble 

 wall, and will answer in every way as well. 



"Ample means of ventilation must be provided in 

 order that nature may be turned to assistance in reduc- 

 ing the temperature of the house as much as possible. 

 Sewer pipes leading for some distance under ground 

 and provided with proper stops or dampers can be very 

 effectively used to assist in reducing the temperature 

 during frosty nights. In addition to this the' second 

 story of the house should be provided with one or two 

 ice rooms, according to the width of the house. The 

 writer is inclined to favor two narrow ice rooms, one 



at either side of the building, with the storage room 

 between and below the ice rooms. See plan of such an 

 arrangement in Figs. 2408 and side elevation in Fig. 2409. 

 "The stone wall must have a lining in order to pro- 

 vide a dead-air space between it and the storage room. 

 This can be secured by placing 2x4 studding against 

 the stone wall, covering this with a durable waterproof 

 paper, placing 1-inch strips outside of this and covering 

 all with flooring. This will give two small air spaces 

 between the stone or brick wall and the storage 

 chamber. See Fig. 2409, cross section of such a wall. 

 The ice chambers should extend the whole length of the 

 building or storeroom. They may be as narrow as six 

 feet, but eight feet will increase their capacity and cool- 

 ing power. The floors in these rooms should be made 

 of metal overlaid with 2x4's set on edge, the metal 

 floor so arranged as to allow a free passage of air from 

 the ice chamber into the storage room. As cold air 

 naturally falls the slat floor in the second-story ware- 

 room will give direct circulation into the lower ware- 

 room, and both be cooled in consequence. The floor 

 structure must be strong and well braced so as to carry 

 the heavy load placed upon it. Heavy staging carrying 

 2 x 12 joists 18 inches apart, and floored 

 with 2x4's one inch apart, will give am- 

 ple support for the ice chambers and 

 second-story wareroom. The roof to 

 the second-story room should be built 

 so as to make it as near a non-conduc- 

 tor of heat as possible. Dead -air spaces 

 are the cheapest and most easily con- 

 structed non-conductors. This is essen- 

 tial in the ceiling, as it has the double 

 duty to perform of holding the cold in 

 and keeping the heat out. A large, 

 well-ventilated attic space should be 

 provided and, if possible, a shingle or 

 slate roof used in place of metal. The 

 ceiling in the second story must be pro- 

 vided with ventilator shafts carrying 

 good dampers so that perfect ventilation 

 can be secured during cold weather. 

 Provision should be made the winter 

 before for sufficient ice to cool the ware- 

 rooms each fall before the fruit is 

 brought in from the orchard. This will 

 necessitate the construction of a reser- 

 voir and ice house with capacity suffi- 

 New York. cient to fill the ice chambers. It is not 



advisable, in the writer's judgment, to 

 use the ice chambers as ice houses for storing ice; they 

 are merely ice chests to be used to cool the warerooms 

 and fruit as it comes from the orchard. Consequently 

 they can be made much smaller than would be neces- 

 sary were they to serve the double purpose of cold 

 chamber and ice house." 



Many small storage houses, located near railway sta- 

 tions, are now to be seen in the fruit sections of the 

 country. One of these is shown in Fig. 2410. In store- 

 houses, apples are usually stored in barrels that are 

 piled on their sides. Fig. 2411. It is a common practice 

 to re-sort apples in storage. Fig. 2412. L H B 



Refrigeration or cold storage is the name given to the 

 preservation of perishable products, such as fruits and 

 other organic foodstuffs, at a temperature so low as to 

 arrest the action of ferments and mould, and yet not low 

 enough to destroy the flavor or cellular structure of the 

 material so stored. 



This process of preserving organic substances has 

 been known since the earliest civilization, and while it 

 was used to a limited extent in those localities where 

 an abundant supply of natural ice was available, the 

 process did not come into general use until the machin- 

 ery for producing artificial cold and artificial ice was 

 perfected. Various principles have been employed in 

 the development of this machinery, but all have in- 

 volved the fundamental idea of the condensing of a gas 

 and the heating of it on again expanding, when it takes 

 up the latent heat of compartments in which such 

 expansion takes place. For this purpose carbon anhy- 

 drate and ammonia anhydrate have chiefly been em- 

 ployed. After the cooling has been effected by artificial 



