No. 4.] COLD STORAGE. 231 



The trader and merchant have been quick to see and im- 

 prove the opportunities of cold-storage. Why should not 

 the farmer? The phm is in every way practicable. Let even 

 a considera])le nunilx-r of the dairy communities throughout 

 New England have tlieir cold-storage depots, and there will 

 be no glutting of the market with the rich and sweet June- 

 made butter, for the farmers ^\'i\\ then be the masters of the 

 situation. It is the surplus tub of butter, the surplus barrel 

 of apples and the surplus hundred-weight of cabbage that 

 makes the price for the whole. The gain from these neigh- 

 borhood cold-storage houses would be immediate, for, with 

 no sur])lus stocks of butter oti'cring in June, July and Au- 

 gust, the farmer will and nuist get an enhanced price for the 

 butter he chooses to sell in those months. This would be 

 simply a law of trade. A co-operative cold-storage house 

 can be easily made a part of a co-operative creamery or 

 cheese factory. Such a house can be built at a comparatively 

 small expense, and in practically every neighborhood and 

 village of New England there is opportunity to gather a crop 

 of ice. Ice can be cut and hauled a mile at a cost of not 

 over 25 cents a ton. Such a house should contain two or 

 more compartments, for butter should be kept separate from 

 all other commodities, and, besides, it requires to be kept at 

 a lower temperature than most other kinds of produce. A 

 temperature of 33 degrees will keep your surplus stock of 

 summer and fall apples, in case of an over supply in the 

 market, in fine condition for weeks. Strawberries, rasp- 

 berries and all kinds of fresh berries can be kept for days at 

 a temperature ranging from 36 to 40 degrees, celery at 35 

 degrees ; cranberries, 34 to 36 degrees ; grapes, 36 to 38 

 degrees ; peaches, 45 to 55 degrees ; pears, 34 to 36 degrees ; 

 onions, 34 to 40 degrees; potatoes, 36 to 40 degrees; 

 asparagus, 34 degrees ; cabbage, 34 degrees ; maple syrup 

 or sugar, 40 to 45 degrees ; honey, 45 degrees ; buckwheat, 

 flour, corn meal, oat meal and wheat flour, all at 40 degrees. 

 Butter is preserved both ways : by kee[)ing it at the ordinary 

 cold-storage temperatures of 32 to 34 degrees, or by freezing. 

 It is claimed that the best results come from freezing solid, 

 as the fresh and original flavor of the butter is kept intact. 

 But, be this as it may, the great mass of butter in cold stor- 



