3 8o 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



CHEAP STORAGE FOR APPLES. 



^» < NE of the easiest and most rapid profits that a horticulturist and 

 farmer can take advantage of is in the proper storage of the apple 

 crop. The October and November price of good winter keepers is 

 seldom more than one-third to one-half what the same fruit com- 

 mands in the latter part of the winter and early spring, so that a 

 moderate amount of shrinkage from rotting, etc., may easily be met 

 in 'he largely increased profit of late selling. In earlier times quan- 

 tities of apples were preserved for the spring market by simply burying them in 

 conical heaps, first placing straw over the heaps, then enough earth to prevent 

 freezing ; and even at the present time some of the choicest apples that reach 

 our late spring market are preserved in this well-known manner. Simply a 

 modification of this old and well-tried process is the method that I make the 

 heading of this article. Down a hillside an excavation (see Fig. 396) is made, 



which may be several feet deep, 



and 8 or more feet wide at the 



top and in the bottom, extending 



- its full length, a trough is placed, 



397.— Apple Storage : The side hill of it seen Lengthwise. 



made of a board one foot wide for the bottom, and boards 8 inches wide for the 

 sides, with a little drain immediately below. 



This trough, extending up the full length, and in the bottom of the excava- 

 tion, is covered with slats 1 or 2 inches wide, nailed across not over 1 inch 

 apart. The sloping sides are then covered with rye straw, and apples by the 

 wagon load are placed therein and covered with straw and earth from above to 

 prevent frost from reaching them, as is done in the old way of burying fruits. 



The trough below gives a circulation of cold air through all the apples 

 stored above it, and ends in a draught chimney at the upper end. In the very 

 coldest weather the mouth at the lower end of the excavation may be closed, 

 though while the thermometer remains 12° or 15 above zero it has proved an 

 advantage to let the cold air'circulate through. But in warm weather it is an 



