826 



Storage of Apples. 



[Dec, 



(1) An equable temperature is necessary. This should be 

 not higher than 45° F. and preferably lower, provided it does 

 not fall below 32° F. The building should be of such construc- 

 tion as not to be readily affected by the sun's heat or fluctuations 

 in the external atmospheric temperature. 



(2) There should be sufficient ventilation to guard against a 

 stagnant atmosphere, but our ideas regarding this may have to 

 be modified in the -light of modern research. Suffice it to say 

 that a building used for a combined office or similar purpose 

 as well as an apple store is most unsuitable, owing to the fact 

 that it is being opened constantly for purposes other than the 

 packing or removal of fruit. 



(3) The atmosphere must not be dry. 



(4) Darkness is preferable at all times, save when the store 

 has to be entered. A cellar is therefore much more suitable for 

 storing apples than a room at the top of a dwelling-house or a 

 loft or granary. 



The most successful fruit stores in the country are those 

 which have been built 3-4 ft. below the ground level and lined 

 with boards, roofed with lath, and covered with a thick thatch 

 of heather or reeds. Some have been covered completely with 

 heather or reeds and some have double walls of wood filled 

 between with sawdust, which is a splendid non-conductor. In 

 other cases the whole building has been excavated into a bank. 



The store should face north, if possible, and have the 

 entrance at the north end. Some protection by trees and the 

 configuration of the ground against the sun is an advantage on 

 the south and south-west. The interior should have an earthen 

 floor, and be shelved around the sides, with a central tier, and 

 a passage right around. As a rule it is best to store late-keeping 

 varieties at the further end of the store, so that they are as 

 little affected by removals as possible. 



A Successful Fruit Store. — The following are particulars of 

 an admirable fruit house for a small fruit holding which is in 

 use in the Eastbourne district. 



It consists of a thatched shed with shelves running all round 

 and a tier down the centre. A path about 2 ft. 6 in. runs around 

 the central tier of shelves. The idea of thatching both the roof 

 and sides is to ensure an equable and non-fluctuating tempera- 

 ture, this being very necessary for fruit storage. Heather is 

 the finest thing for thatching a shed of this description and 

 such a thatch will last 20 years. 



