INFLUENCE OF COLD STORAGE ON PEAR INDUSTRY. 11 



after the middle of November. For the same reason it is usually not a 

 good plan to hold apples in large quantities later than the 1st of May, 

 when fresh vegetables and the new crop of Southern fruits begin to 

 fill the markets. The general principles, therefore, which govern the 

 preservation of fruits and their relation to the markets can be under- 

 stood only when these various factors are considered together. 



INFLUENCE OF COLD STORAGE ON THE PEAR INDUSTRY. 



Before the advent of the cold-storage business the supply of summer 

 pears frequently exceeded the demand. This condition of the markets, 

 which were demoralized in hot, humid seasons, pertained especially to 

 the early varieties, like the Bartlett, which ripen in hot weather and 

 need to be sold in a short time to prevent heavy losses from rapid 

 decay. The introduction of the refrigerator car and of the cold-storage 

 warehouse, together with the rapid growth of the canning industry, 

 has done much to improve the pear situation by artificially establish- 

 ing a well-regulated and more uniform supply of fruit throughout a 

 longer period of time. The pear acreage of the country has more than 

 doubled within a decade, and is enlarging the relative importance of 

 cold storage to the pear-growing business, though a large part of the 

 increase, especially in California, along the Atlantic coast from New 

 Jersey southward, in Texas, and in the Central West, is primarily 

 related to the canning industry. 



Pear storage has developed most largely in the East. In New York 

 and Jersey City from 60,000 to 100,000 bushels of summer pears, 

 30,000 to 60,000 bushels of later varieties, and many cars of California 

 pears are stored annually. In Boston, since 1895 there have been 

 stored each year from 5,000 to 15,000 bushels of early pears, principally 

 Bartlett, and from 7,000 to 20,000 bushels of later varieties, such as 

 Anjou, Bosc, Angouleme {Duchess), Seckel, and Sheldon. In Buffalo 

 10,000 bushels are sometimes stored in a single season, and in Phila- 

 delphia from 30,000 to 35,000 bushels. While there are no accurate 

 statistics available and the quantity fluctuates from year to year, it is 

 probable that as many as 300,000 bushels are stored in a single year 

 throughout the country at large. 



PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES IN PEAR STORAGE. 



There are many practical difficulties in pear storage. The early- 

 ripening varieties which mature in hot weather, like the Bartlett, 

 often ''slump''' before they reach the storage house, or are in soft 

 condition, especially if they have been delayed in ordinary freight 

 cars in transit. They may afterwards decay badly in storage, break 

 down quickly on removal, or lose their delicate flavor and aroma. 

 When stored in a large package like the barrel, the fruit, especially of 



