PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



Edited by C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D. 

 Author of "On Citraconic, Itaconic and Mesaconic Acids," "Fish as Food," etc. 



"What a Man Eats He Is." 



APPLES IN COLD STORAGE. 



G. H. Powell and S. H. Fulton, of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, 

 have drawn some interesting deductions 

 from a study of the problem of the cold 

 storage of apples. 



An apple usually should be fully grown 

 and highly colored when picked, to give it 

 the best keeping and commercial qualities. 

 When harvested in that condition it is of 

 better quality, more attractive in appear- 

 ance, and worth more money than when it 

 is picked in less mature condition. 



Uniform color in the fruit mav be se- 

 cured by pruning to let the sunlight into 

 the tree, by cultural conditions that check 

 the growth of the tree early in the fall, and 

 by picking several times, taking the apples 

 in each picking that have attained the de- 

 sired degree of color and size. 



Apples should be stored as quickly as 

 possible after gathering. The fruit ripens 

 rapidly after it is picked, especially if the 

 weather is hot, and the ripening which 

 takes place between the time of picking and 

 storage shortens the life of the fruit in the 

 storage house. The fruit rots ; that is, the 

 micro organisms causing decay, multiply 

 rapidly if storage is delayed and the fruit 

 becomes heated. If the weather is cool 

 enough to prevent afterripening, a delay in 

 the storage of the fruit may not be in- 

 jurious to its keeping quality. 



A temperature of 31 to 32 degrees Fah- 

 renheit retards the ripening processes more 

 than a higher temperature. This tempera- 

 ture favors the fruit in other respects. 



A fruit wrapper retards the ripening of 

 the fruit; it preserves the bright color, 

 checks transpiration, lessens wilting, pro- 

 tects the apple from bruising, and prevents 

 the spread of fungus spores from decayed 

 to perfect fruit. 



Apples that are to be stored for any 

 length of time should be placed in closed 

 packages. The fruit cools more rapidly in 

 small packages. 



Apples should be in a firm condition when 

 taken from storage, and kept at a low tem- 

 perature after removal, since a high tem- 

 perature hastens decomposition and de- 

 velops scald, a brown discoloration on the 

 surface of the fruit, probably caused by a 

 ferment or enzyme. Fruit nicked before it 

 is^ mature is more susceptible to scald than 

 Ihighly colored, well developed fruit. 



The best fruit keeps best in storage. 

 When the crop is light it may pay to store 

 fruit of inferior grade, but in that case the 



grades should be established when the fruit 

 is picked. The bruising of the fruit leads 

 to premature decay. A variety of apples 

 may differ in its keeping quality when 

 grown in different parts of the country, and 

 when grown in the same locality under 

 different cultural conditions. The char- 

 acter of the soil, the age of the trees, the 

 care of the orchard, the character of the 

 season, all may affect the keeping quality of 

 the fruit. 



PEPPER GROWING. 



Singapore is perhaps the greatest pepper 

 market in the East, the largest proportion 

 being shipped thence to Great Britain. 

 Pepper, according to a recent journal de- 

 voted to the spice industry, "is obtained 

 from the dry unripe fruit of the Piper 

 nigrum, a climbing plant of the simplest 

 culture, being multiplied with facility by 

 cuttings or suckers. The ripe fruit, when 

 deprived of its outer fleshy covering by 

 washing, forms the white pepper of com- 

 merce. The pepper vine rises about 2 feet 

 in the first year of its growth, and attains 

 to nearly 6 feet in the second, at which 

 time, it vigorous and healthy, the petals 

 begin to form into a corolla, or blossom. 

 All suckers and side shoots are carefully 

 removed, and the vines are thinned and 

 pruned if they become bushy at the top. 

 The vine will climb, if permitted, 20 feet, 

 but bears best when kept down to the 

 height of 10 or 12 feet. It produces 2 

 crops in a year. The fruit grows abun- 

 dantly from all the branches, and in small 

 clusters of 20 to 50 grains. When ripe it 

 is bright red. After being gathered it is 

 spread on mats in the sun and dried, when 

 it becomes black and shriveled. The grains 

 are separated from the stalks by hand rub- 

 bing. 



"A pepper plantation never survives its 

 13th year except in extremely rich soil, and 

 then it is unproductive ; nor will the young 

 vine thrive on an old, worn out pepper 

 land, a peculiarity which is noticeable in 

 the coffee tree. The chief crop las? 3 from 

 August to February. Four poundi of dry 

 produce for 10 of green is considered a 

 fair estimate, and great care is required in 

 the management of the vine, especially in 

 training and tying it on the props. The 

 pepper plant is subject to injury by the 

 attacks of a small insect. Green pepper 

 dries in 2 or 3 days, and if it is intended 

 that it shall be black it is pulled before it 

 is quite ripe. Pepper, unlike many articles 



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