UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 729 



Contribution from Bureau of Markets 

 CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



July 24, 1913 



SUITABLE STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR CERTAIN 

 PERISHABLE FOOD PRODUCTS. 



APPLES, POTATOES, SWEET POTATOES, ONIONS, CABBAGE, EGGS, 

 FROZEN EGGS, POULTRY, BUTTER, AND FISH. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IT 1 OR a number of years the Department of Agriculture has been ac- 

 ■*■ cumulating information concerning the factors which influence the 

 keeping of various perishable farm products in storage. Some of this 

 information has been published in various bulletins of the department, 

 but much of it has not been made available in convenient form for the 

 use of those operating storage warehouses. Recently the Federal Re- 

 serve Board requested the Department of Agriculture to furnish it 

 with information as to "proper storage conditions/' ''length of storage'' 

 and "percentage of shrinkage in storage" for each several perish- 

 able commodities which might be considered sufficiently staple to re- 

 ceive the benefit of the preferential rate of rediscount in connection 

 with loans made by member banks against warehouse receipts for such 

 products "properly graded, packed and stored in weather-proof and 

 responsible warehouses." This information has been prepared on ap- 

 ples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, cabbage, eggs, frozen eggs, poul- 

 try, butter and fish and for convenience it has been tabulated in the 

 form of a folding chart or table. (See envelope in back cover of this 

 bulletin.) 



The data contained in this chart represent the results of investiga- 

 tions and observations made by various workers in the Department 

 of Agriculture. While the information given is not complete and may 

 not, in all cases, represent ideal conditions of storage, it gives methods 

 and conditions which thus far have been found to produce the most 

 satisfactory results. 



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