FRUIT STORAGE 101 
for the most part cooled down by the use of natural ice. 
The Use of Ice.—To give the early history of the cold 
storage industry would be simply to recall the trying 
out of a great many different methods of using ice. 
The entire business of cold storage is not over 60 years 
old and hence its evolution has been very rapid. The 
first attempt to cool down fruit or vegetables by means 
of ice, was to place the ice upon the floor of the storage 
room. It was soon discovered that this method would 
not be practicable because of the undue amount of 
moisture in the air resulting from the melting of the 
ice. Later, various ways were tried, such as placing the 
ice at the side or above the room to be cooled allowing 
the air to be first cooled down by flowing over the ice 
and later circulating through the storage room. 
This same principle is still employed in the small re 
frigerators so commonly used in residences for keeping 
foods. The ice being placed in the top of the refrigerat- 
ing box, the air as it flows over it becomes cool and 
settles to the bottom. The warmed air rising again 
passes over the ice at the opposite side. This method is 
not practical for stored fruit or, in fact, is any method 
applicable where the air is cooled by coming directly 
into contact with the ice and then distributed through 
the storage room; the reasons for the failure of this 
method being due to the fact that the humidity cannot 
be controlled. 
Ice Brine System.—The method used almost exclu- 
sively at the present time is what is known as the ‘‘Ice 
Brine System.’’ In this arrangement, the air does not 
come in contact with the ice nor with the fruit; but 
coils of pipes in which liquids circulate are first cooled 
