Il8 FRUIT HARVESTING, STORING, MARKETING 



Excessive quantities of fruit or vegetables should 

 not be piled together. Fift}- bushels or less may be 

 considered best, though this limit is often greatly ex- 

 ceeded. Personal experience under definite conditions 

 is the best test. Several sorts of vegetables, as onions 

 and cabbages, should not be included in the same pit. 



When the heap of fruits or vegetables is complete 

 a covering of straw or leaves is put on. This covering 

 may be held in place temporarily by loose boards laid 

 on. It is desirable to keep the pile for several days, 

 or even for weeks, without additional cover. This 

 allows the vegetables to cool down and to e\'aporate a 

 certain amount of water. As the weather grows colder 

 some soil is shoveled onto the straw covering. This 

 earth cover is put on, a little at a time, from day to 

 day, thickening as the cold increases, until, by the 

 time the ground freezes for winter, the pit is adequately 

 protected against the severest freezes which are to be 

 expected. 



The essentials of this method of pit storage are: 

 { I ) good fruit or vegetables, mature and free from 

 decay; (2) careful handling; (3) perfect drainage; 

 (4) proper ventilation; (5) progressively supplied 

 and adequate protection from cold, but not such a 

 covering as will prevent the proper cooling off of the 

 contents of the pit. The advantages of the method 

 are convenience and economy. In the opinion of the 

 author the use of storage pits should be much more 

 common than it is. There seems to be a notion that 

 it belongs only with frontier conditions, and it has 

 generally been practiced only in new countries. 



My friend and former student, Mr. O. M. Morris, 



