2 BULLETIN 709, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



cipally by the use of salt and other preservatives and by protection 

 from the air, and it was onl}^ for limited periods and in moderate 

 quantities that they were preserved in the fresh state by holding 

 them at reduced temperatures. The more palatable and more nutri- 

 tious character of these products when preserved in the fresh state 

 has given such encouragement to further use of this method of preser- 

 vation that a complete transformation has resulted in the character 

 and economic importance of the storage industry. Since the year 

 1890 mechanical refrigeration has assumed great importance in the 

 preservation and marketing of perishable and semiperishable prod- 

 ucts, and the present importance of "the storage industry is in large 

 measure due to the adoption and development of this process. 



Aside from the carrying over of perishable and semiperishable 

 foods in household economy from the season of production to the sea- 

 son of nonproduction, there is in the business world a sufficient motive 

 for such preservation in the profit to be gained by buying at lower 

 prices in times of plenty for sale at higher prices in times of scarcity. 

 The commercial motive has been an incentive in the business of stor- 

 ing and preservation of foods at all times, and it exerts an equal 

 force in the work of the cold-storage industry. The consequences, 

 however, are not entirely commercial. Just as in the household the 

 family in the season of nonproduction has the use and enjoyment 

 of the food saved from the season of production, so in the commer- 

 cial world the preservation of foods for seasons and years of scarcity 

 is provided for by the accumulation of a^ surplus in times of plenty. 

 The development of the cold-storage industry has made possible the 

 holding of perishable foods in substantiall}' the same condition as 

 that in which they were first produced; and the quantities that will 

 be held in the future under mechanical refrigeration need be limited 

 only by the powers of production of foods and of providing such 

 means of storage and by the prospective demand. Accordingly there 

 have already resulted, and in the future there may be expected to 

 result in even greater degree, economic consequences of the utmost 

 importance. 



The preservation of these articles in the fresh state from the season 

 of greatest production to the seasons of scarcity tends to greater uni- 

 formity of prices throughout the year- On the one hand it tends to 

 relieve a glutted market, and on the other hand it not only provides 

 a supply in the season of nonproduction of commodities which could 

 not be had at such times in the fresh state at all, but also provides a 

 larger supply, consequently at lower prices, of such products as 

 butter and eggs, which otherwise could be had only in smaller quan- 

 tities. Of still greater consequence than the equalization of prices is 

 the conservation and avoidance of waste in the season of large supply 

 and the larger consumption because of less excessive prices in the 



