246 STORING FRUIT 



comes on with a rush. It so happens that it usually comes the 

 week of Labor Day, when most people do not want to labor. 

 The result is that prices usually collapse. But if even the large 

 growers were so situated that they could put some of their 

 peaches in storage for this week they would not only be saved 

 the necessity of selling this part of the crop at a sacrifice, but 

 the mere fact that they took some of the fruit off the market 

 would help to keep the price up. 



3. Good storage increases consumption by keeping the fruit 

 in better condition. This is a self-evident fact but one frequently 

 overlooked. If a consumer gets a barrel of apples in poor condi- 

 tion, one barrel will perhaps be all that he will buy ; whereas if 

 his first barrel comes to him in fine shape he may be induced to 

 use two or even three barrels. Few people realize how much 

 difference there is in selling capacity between a fruit which is 

 merely not decayed and one which has been kept in prime 

 condition. 



4. Good storage improves the price by allowing the grower 

 to delay his marketing. It almost always happens that the price 

 of any fruit is higher at either end of the season than it is in 

 the middle of the season. Therefore if a grower can keep the 

 fruit which he would ordinarily market in the middle of the 

 season until this rise in price occurs he is going to realize con- 

 siderably more for his crop. 



5. Good Storage Avoids Mental Strain. — It seems worth 

 while to add another advantage of good storage, and that is the 

 influence it exerts on the grower himself. Few people who have 

 not had the experience realize what a mental strain it is upon 

 a man to market a large crop of fruit. A good share of this 

 strain comes from his anxiety lest the fruit shall deteriorate 

 before he can sell it. The reassui-ance which a good storage would 

 bring to such a man would increase his comfort and prolong 

 his life. 



The Ideal Storage Plant.— With all these benefits to be 

 secured from storage it is worth while next to consider what 

 constitutes an ideal fruit storage plant. It ought to have the 

 following characteristics : 



