No. 4.] STORAGE OF APPLES. 53 



tliG storage room is poor, tlio temperature, of course, rises 

 and falls with the temperature of the outside air, and this 

 is one of the chief ohjections to storing apples in ordinary 

 cellars and rooms which are poorly insulated. The speaker 

 once had experience with a storage room in wdiich it was 

 necessary to use an oil stove to keep the frnit from freezing 

 during severe weather. As it was unsafe to keep this stove 

 lighted at night, the temperature of the room would fall to 

 nearly freezing by morning ; then the stove would be started 

 and the temperature would rise to nearly GO degrees by 

 night. The result was that the apples kept very poorly. The 

 next year we put in furring strips along the walls and lined 

 the room throughout with building paper, and the result was 

 that with this improved insulation we could hold the tem- 

 perature almost constant, even in severe weather, and our 

 apples kept splendidly. 



Third, the apple storage ought to have a relatively high 

 degree of moisture. Just what this per cent is the speaker 

 is not prepared to say. Mr. Madison Cooper, a recognized 

 expert on such matters, gives 80 per cent as about right. 

 What the speaker does know is, that in the Annapolis Valley, 

 ]N3^ova Scotia, two growers who were especially successful in 

 keeping their apples employed the following methods: one 

 had a stream of water running through the storage room, 

 and the other was in the habit of wetting down the storage- 

 house floor (and even barrels in which Eussets were stored) 

 with the hose. 



Fourth, the storage must be convenient for getting the 

 fruit in and out. Few growers realize how much time is 

 consumed in getting the apples into the storage, where they 

 must be carried, one barrel at a time, down the cellar stairs. 

 An elevator is usually the best method to use, though some- 

 times the barrels or boxes may be slid down an outside 

 hatchway. 



Fifth, the building must be reasonable in price. Just 

 what constitutes a reasonable price of course varies. The 

 cost will also vary with diiferent localities, and the price 

 that a grower can afford to pay and still make a profit will 

 vary. But if an orchardist expects to store his apples in a 



