EXPERIMENTS IN PEAR STORAGE. 13 



1902 the fruit with which the experiments were made was grown by 

 Mr. S. H. Derby, Woodside, Del., on heavy-bearing ten-year-old 

 trees on sandy soil with a clay subsoil. The fruit was smaller, of finer 

 texture, and of somewhat better qualit}^ than that used the previous 

 year. It was stored in the cold-storage department of the Reading 

 Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pa. 



The Kieffers were picked at three degrees of maturity: First, when 

 two-thirds grown, or before the fruit is usually picked; second, ten 

 days later, or about the time that Kieffers are commonly picked, and 

 third, ten days later, when the fruit was fully grown and still green, 

 but showing a yellowish tinge around the calyx. In each picking, 

 part of the fruit was shipped to storage and was placed in rooms with 

 a temperature of 36° and 32° F. within forty-eight hours. Equal quan- 

 tities stored in each temperature were wrapped in parchment paper, in 

 imprinted news paper, and were left unwrapped. A duplicate lot of 

 fruit remained in a common storage house ten days in open boxes, 

 when it was packed in a similar manner and sent to storage. This fruit 

 colored considerably during the interval, but was still hard and appar- 

 ently in good physical condition on entering the storage house. The 

 pears were stored in -10-pound closed boxes and in five-eighths bushel 

 peach baskets. One hundred and fifty bushels were used in the 

 experiments. 



THE INFLUENCE OP THE DEGREE OF MATURITY ON KEEPING QUALITY. 



The experiments with the Kieffer pear show that under conditions 

 similar to those in Delaware and eastern Maryland this variety may 

 safely be picked from the same orchard during a period of at least 

 three weeks, or when from two-thirds grown to full size, and that the 

 fruit in all cases may be stored successfully until the Holidays, or 

 much longer if there is still a demand for it. It is absolutely essential 

 that the fruit be handled with the greatest care, that it be sent at once 

 to storage after picking, that it be packed carefully to prevent bruis- 

 ing (preferably in small packages, like a bushel box), and that it be 

 stored in a temperature not above 32° F. if it is desired to hold it for 

 any length of time. If stored by the middle of October, the fruit, 

 by the latter part of December, will take on a rich, yellow color when 

 kept in a temperature of 32° F. , and earlier if a higher temperature 

 is used. The fruit ma} r be withdrawn during the Holidays, and will 

 stand up, i. e., continue in good condition, for ten days or longer if the 

 weather is cool, and will retain its normal quality if the rooms have 

 been properly managed. While the later picked fully grown pears 

 keep well, they are already inferior in qualit}^ at the picking time, as 

 the flesh around the center is filled with woocby cells, making it of less 

 value either for eating in a fresh state or for culinary purposes. These 

 coarse cells in the Kieffer and some other late varieties do not develop 



