40 



STUDIES ON APPLES. 



which previously had been sound now began to decay. It is suggested 

 that the two conditions may be due to the same cause; that is, the loss 

 of vitality of the apples may have exposed them to decay and rot, or 

 at least made them less resistant to rot, and at the same time may have 

 led to slower changes in the composition of the fruit. . As has been 

 suggested in other connections, the apparent retarding in the ripening 

 process may have been due to the greater susceptibility to decay of 

 the ripest apples, and consequently to an increase in the percentage of 

 the relatively greener apples on each successive examination. 



THE RESPIRATION OF APPLES IN COMMON AND COLD STORAGE. 



On October 20, 1902, a barrel of Ben Davis apples, grown at South 

 Onondaga, N. Y., was secured for respiration experiments. 



DESCRIPTION OF APPARATUS AND METHODS EMPLOYED. 



Three stone jars of the form shown in figure 11 were secured as 

 containers. These jars were the ordinary ghi/cd stoneware chlorin 



FIG. 11. Jar used in respiration experiments. 



generators with stoneware covers having a ground joint. As shown in 

 the illustration, the jars were arranged to afford the passage of a slight 

 current of air. A guard tube of soda lime, then a drying tube of cal- 

 cium chlorid, and then a tube of moist pumice stone were connected in 

 series before the apparatus. The last-named tube was for the purpose 

 of moistening the air which passed through the apparatus, as the pas- 

 sage of a dry current of air would desiccate the apples and cause them 

 to shrink abnormally. The tube of calcium chlorid just before the 

 pumice stone was used in order that b}^ repeated weighings of the latter 

 the amount of water carried over into the jar with the current of air 

 might be determined. Connected in series after the generator were 



