l8o THE AMERICAN APPLE ORCHARD 



condenser or to the absorber to renew tlie cycle of re- 

 frigeration. 



"In the indirect or air-circulating system the air in a 

 well-insulated room, which is sometimes called a coil 

 room or a 'bunker room,' is first cooled, either by 

 the direct-expansion or by the brine-circulating- sys- 

 tem. The cold air of the coil room is then forced 

 through ducts to the storage rooms. After passing 

 through the storage rooms it is returned by ducts to 

 the coil room to be recooled and purified and to begin 

 the circuit anew." 



Extensive experiments in the cold storage of fruit, 

 especially apples, carried on by the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture under the supervision of G. 

 Harold Powell, have added materially to our knowl- 

 edge of the subject in recent years. These experi- 

 ments have strongly emphasized the importance of 

 immediate storage. The fruit should be put into the 

 storage room with the least possible delay after pick- 

 ing. Indeed, we know of one large apple grower who 

 has cooled refrigerator cars standing on the railroad 

 track waiting before picking begins. Just as fast as 

 the fruit can be sorted it is barreled and hauled di- 

 rectly into these refrigerator cars. These cars are 

 run right into the refrigerating house to be unloaded, 

 so that the apples are out of cold storage for only a 

 few hours at most from the time they are picked un- 

 til they are sold. 



It used to be thought that a temperature of 40 to 

 42 degrees was best for storing apples, but recent ex- 

 perience has shown conclusively that the temperature 

 in the storage chamber should be 31 or 32 degrees, 

 and that this should be maintained with the least possi- 

 ble variation througiiont tlic storage season. 



