FRUIT STORAGE 



Some sort of storage facilities are almost indis- 

 pensable in the management of the fruit business for 

 profit. They allow fruit to be carried over a season 

 t)f glut, and so help the grower, even though the 

 storage be owned by the speculator and operated in 

 his interest. Fruit storage is most useful to the fruit 

 grower,, how^ever, w^hen it is kept in his own posses- 

 sion, or at least within his own management, for it 

 makes him in a greater or less degree independent of 

 the bu3^er and speculator — often remarkably so. It 

 may be safely said that the fruit business can not be 

 conducted on a large scale, except with a few of the 

 more perishable fruits, without adequate provision for 

 storage, either on the grower's ow^n premises or in 

 rented storage rooms. 



I. REQUIREMENTS 



The requirements for successful storage of fruits 

 are three : (i) good fruit ; (2) proper handling; (3) 

 reasonable control of temperature in the storage room. 

 We will consider these in order. 



Quality of the fruit. — There are two rea.sons w'hy 

 poor fruit should never be put in storage. First, it 

 does not keep. The shrinkage and loss are sure to be 

 excessive. Second, the fruit is not worth it. Fruit 

 storage is comparatively expensive business, and poor 



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