16 THE APPLE IN COLD STORAGE. 



from sandy soils, from sod, and from cultivated land, from young, 

 rapidly growing trees, and from older trees with more steady habits. 



(4) A determination of the behavior of the fruit under the condi- 

 tions outlined in temperatures of 31° to 32° F., and in 34° to 36° F. 



(5) A determination of the behavior of the fruit when removed 

 from storage, and of its value to the consumer. 



The fruit used in the investigations has been taken from central and 

 eastern Kansas, southwestern and central Missouri, southern and cen- 

 tral Illinois, western Michigan, northeastern West Virginia, northern 

 and western Virginia, western North Carolina, central Delaware, 

 southern Maine, central Massachusetts, and from eastern, central, and 

 western New York. A description of each orchard accompanies the 

 data included in the account of the variety test. (See pages 3-i and 35.) 



The fruit has been stored in the following cold-storage houses: 

 Washington Market Compaiw, Washington, D. C. ; Reading Terminal 

 Market, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Quincy Market Cold Storage Company, 

 Boston, Mass.; Buffalo Cold Storage Company, Buffalo, N. Y. ; West- 

 ern Cold Storage Company, Chicago, 111. ; Twin City Ice and Cold 

 Storage Company, Champaign, 111., and the Armour Packing Com- 

 pany, Kansas City, Mo. 



It has been necessary to duplicate the work in different parts of the 

 country, as the climatic and other conditions and the varieties differ 

 in each section. The work must be repeated for several successive 

 seasons before general conclusions can safely be drawn from it, as the 

 climatic conditions differ each year and thereby affect the results. 



FACTORS INFLUENCING THE KEEPING QUALITY OF APPLES. 



THE MATURITY OF THE FRUIT WHEN PICKED. 



In recent years there has been a tendency to pick the apple crop 

 relatively earlier in the season than formerly. It is quite generally 

 supposed that the longest keeping apples are not fully developed in 

 size or maturity and that the most highly colored fruit is less able to 

 endure the abuses that arise in picking, packing, and shipping. 



Aside from these general impressions, several important economic 

 factors have influenced the picking time. A large proportion of the 

 apple crop is purchased in the orchard by the barrel or by the entire 

 orchard by a comparatively few apple merchants. The fruit may be 

 picked and barreled either by the grower or Irv the purchaser, but 

 with the growing scarcity of farm hands and other labor it has become 

 necessary to begin picking relatively earlier in the autumn to secure 

 the crop before the fall storms or winter months set in. 



The general increase in freight traffic during the past few years has 

 overtaxed the carrying capacity of the railroads as well as their termi- 

 nal facilities for freight handling, and has influenced the apple dealers 



