38 



CIRCULAR 74 ; XL S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Capacity and Height of Rooms 



Although numerous small rooms are advantageous for precooling, 

 large rooms may be used to good advantage for the storage period. 

 It is usually expedient for cooperatives and large shippers to have 

 their storage space divided into at least four rooms for flexibility of 

 operation. For instance, for apple and pear storage it may be desir- 

 able to hold one room at 36° F. for apples susceptible to soft scald or 

 for fruit intended for early markets, and one room at a constant tem- 

 perature of 30° to 32° for the long storage of both fruits. The other 

 two rooms can be used for rapid cooling or for storage at different 

 times in the season. 



The height of cold-storage rooms for apples has to be adapted to 

 the packages being stored and the cost of labor or availability of ma- 

 chinery for stacking and tearing down piles. Where there is a labor 

 problem, high stacking is not desirable, and the room height must be 

 governed by the height that a man can stack. For example, a workman 

 can stack standard apple boxes 8 high from the floor, and this calls 

 for a 9-foot ceiling in an air-cooled room. If the labor situation 

 permits higher stacking, sufficient head room must be provided for a 

 man to work above the sixth layer, which usually necessitates 12-foot 

 ceilings, with stacks 11 boxes high. Ceilings at intermediate heights 

 have not been found practical for apples in boxes, because they are 

 trucked into position 6 high and the workman stacking above this level 

 requires 6 feet if his movements are not to be hampered through work- 

 ing in a stooped position. Space required by standard apple packages 

 is given in table 7. 



Table 7. — Space required for standard apple packages * 



Dimensions (feet) 



Height 



Width 



Net length _ _ 

 Gross length 

 Gross space 4 



Northwest- 

 ern box 

 (1 bushel) 



1.00 

 1.13 



1.63 



1.88 

 2. 5-2. 7 



Michigan 



box 

 (1 bushel) 



13 



1 

 1 



1.48 



1.73 



2. 5-2. 7 



Virginia 

 box (m 

 bushels) 



Bushel 



basket 



(1 bushel) 



1.13 

 1.13 

 1.56 

 1.81 



1.25 



2 1. 50 

 2 1.50 



2. 7-3. 



3. 5-3. 8 



i The data given are for packed boxes having the usual bulge when stacked on their sides. Height and 

 width would be somewhat less where boxes are filled with loose fruit and stacked in an upright position. 



2 Diameter. 



3 Includes a 3-inch spacing between the ends of boxes, recommended for air circulation and convenience in 

 the use of box trucks. 



4 Usually used in calculating capacity of storage rooms and includes allowances for proper spacing of boxes 

 aisle space, conveyors, wall and ceiling clearance, air-duct or piping space, and other space not actually 

 usable. Gross space for baskets is based on stacking in an offset manner. 



Lay-Out of Rooms 



The plant should be so laid out that an expansion of facilities will 

 be possible. Special attention should be paid to the position and 

 shape of the rooms with respect to receiving and shipping, so as 

 to avoid congestion. Where a packing plant is constructed in con- 

 junction with the cold storage, its position must be such that loose fruit 

 can be brought to it direct either from the orchard or from storage 

 rooms. The packing room should not occupy space that otherwise 

 could be used for cold storage nor obstruct fruit deliveries to the 

 cold-storage plant. 



