16 COLD STORAGE OF THE PEAR AND PEACH. 



four to live weeks longer, Angouleme two months longer, and Kieffer 

 three months longer in a temperature of 32° F. Plates II and V show 

 the condition of Kieffer pears in March, 1902. in 32° and 36° F., the 

 two lots having received similar treatment in all respects except in 

 storage temperatures. (See also PL IV, fig. 2.) 



In the higher temperature the fruit ripens more rapidly, which 

 may be an advantage when it is desirable to color the fruit before it 

 leaves storage: but the fruit in that condition is nearer the end of its 

 life history and breaks down more quickly on removal to a warm 

 atmosphere. 



There is a much wider variation in the behavior of pears that have 

 been delayed in storage or that* are overripe when they enter the stor- 

 age room at 32° and 36' F. than in pears stored at once in these tem- 

 peratures. In the higher temperature the fruit that has been improp- 

 erly handled ripens and deteriorates more quickly. The lower 

 temperature not only keeps the fruit longer when it is stored at once, 

 but it is even more essential in preventing rapid deterioration in fruit 

 that has been improperly handled. 



THE INTLUEXCE OF THE TYPE OF PACKAGE OX KEEPIXG QUALITY. 



Pears are commercially stored in closed barrels, in ventilated barrels, 

 in tight boxes holding a bushel or less, and in various kinds of venti- 

 lated crates. The character of the package exerts an important influ- 

 ence on the ripening of the fruit and on its behavior in other respects, 

 both before it enters the storage house and after it is stored, though 

 this fact is not generally recognized by fruit handlers or by ware- 

 housemen. The influence of the package on the ripening processes 

 appears to be related primarily to the ease with which the heat is ra- 

 diated from its contents. The greater the bulk of fruit within a 

 package and the more the air of the storage room is excluded from it 

 the longer the heat is retained. Quick-ripening fruits, like the Bart- 

 lett pear, that enter the storage room in a hot condition in large, 

 closed packages, may continue to ripen considerably before the fruit 

 cools down, and the ripening will be most pronounced in the center of 

 the package, where the heat is retained longest. The influence of the 

 package, therefore, will be most marked in the hottest weather and 

 on fruits that ripen most quickly. 



In the experiments of the Department of Agriculture- the Bartlett 

 pears were stored in tight and in ventilated barrels, in closed 10-pound 

 boxes, and in slat bushel crates. After three weeks in the storage 

 house the fruit that was stored in barrels soon after picking in a tem- 

 perature of 32 c F. was yellow in the center of the package, while the 

 outside layers were firm and green. Plate VI shows the average condi- 

 tion of the fruit in these two positions one week after storing. After 



