CELERY STORAGE EXPERIMENTS. 25 - 
The storage of celery in cold-storage warehouses is a compara- 
tively new undertaking, and for this reason very little definite infor- 
mation is available on the subject. 
In preliminary studies it was observed that celery stored in the 
large crates always began to decay in the center, and also that there 
was considerable injury to the celery due to the breaking of the crates. 
As the celery decayed worse in the center of the crate than else- 
where, small crates and ventilated crates were used in the experi- 
ments. In every instance the decay was much less in the small and 
partition crates than in the standard crates. 
Of the crates used during two or more years, the 14-inch crate 
gave the best results, followed by the 16-inch crate, the partition 
crate, and the 11-inch solid-head crate, in the order given. 
The estimated value of 1,000 bunches (12 stalks each) of celery 
stored in the different types of crates is $331.64 for the standard 
crate, $367.56 for the partition crate, $369.22 for the 16-inch crate, 
$374.08 for the 14-inch crate, and $365.63 for the 11-inch solid-head 
crate. 
The small crates cost a little more than the standard crate in pro- 
portion to their capacity, but this is more than offset by the smal!ler 
percentage of breakage. 
The small crates are preferred by many storage-house managers 
and handlers of celery because of the ease of handling and the smaller 
amount of breakage. 
In a market test made in January, 1916, celery in small crates sold 
for a much higher price than similar celery in standard crates 
handled in exactly the same way. 
Celery in the top tier of crates showed a much larger proportion of 
decay at the end of the storage period than that in the lower tiers. 
There was a greater difference in the keeping quality of celery in 
the different tiers where the standard crate was used than where the 
other crates were employed. 
The difference in the keeping quality of celery in the different 
types of crates and at various heights was probably due to the differ- 
ence in temperature and rate of cooling. 
The air temperature at the height of the fifth tier averaged 2.4 
degrees higher than at the height of the first tier during the storage 
period of 1914-15. The temperature of the celery in the standard 
crate averaged 2.7 degrees higher at the height of the fifth tier than 
at the height of the first tier during the storage period of 1915-16. 
The temperature of the celery in the standard crate averaged 2 
degrees higher than in the partition crate and 4.1 degrees higher than 
the air at the same height. 
