The Canadian Horticulturist. 



379 



ICE AND COLD STORAGE ON THE FARM. 



ANDLING of fresh meat is directly dependent upon artificial refrig- 

 eration, and in no other direction are its benefits more marked or 

 widespread. The cattle of the Western plains have become the 

 daily food of those living at the antipodes. In ten years, from 1880 

 to 1 89 1, the imports of fresh beef and mutton into Great Britain 

 increased from 400 to nearly 3,300,000 carcasses. During the same 

 period the beef exports alone from the United States advanced from 

 50,500 to 101,500 tons. Not only are meats carried in refrigerator vessels from 

 America and the antipodes to England, but within a year Australian milk has 

 been shipped in frozen blocks in such quantities as to be retailed in the streets 

 of London for four cents per quart. Butter, cheese, eggs, fruits and other 

 perishable products are likewise transported enormous distances by rail or 

 water, without injury to the quality and at a low cost for freight. 



It is well known that cellars which are dry, cool and well ventilated, are 

 of great service in preserving fruit and vegetables, and storage cellars without 

 ice have been in use for years with profit and convenience to their owners. A 

 convenient place is to locate them in the side of a slight hill, as shown in the 

 following figure. 



An excavation the width of the ; ..- . ,.:" ■■ 



cellar is made, the earth being thrown 

 up against the outside of the stone 

 wall, which is built on the lower hill- 

 side. The opposite wall is formed by 

 the cut face of the hill. The rear end 

 is constructed in the same manner as 

 the lower hillside. The front wall and 

 doors are made of a double thickness of boards, with six inches inclosed space 

 filled with sawdust. For a cellar one hundred feet deep the estimated cost is 

 $100, no skilled labor being required. Large storage room is provided in such 

 a cellar; 50,000 celery plants have been accommodated, and hundreds of 

 bushels of vegetables, apples and other fruits have been held during the fall and 

 winter. On large fruit farms, such a building designed to properly care for 

 fruit during shipping and packing, and as a storehouse for temporary use. is a 

 necessity. It is at times of great market gluts that the cold storage shed is of 

 the greatest value. Oftentimes, by saving a crop for a week, the prices realized 

 will be double what would otherwise be obtained. — Farm and Home. 



Vm. 395. 



