GENERAL INFORMATION 



149 



Elberta, and South Haven peaches; Cuthbert raspberries; Monitor, 

 Damson, Italian Prune, and Yellow Egg plums have qualities which 

 make a better frozen product than other varieties of the same type of 

 fruit. 



Cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, and plums are usually frozen 

 whole; strawberries and peaches are packed both whole and sliced; 

 apples, cranberries, cherries, and grapes may be frozen whole or con- 

 verted into juice which is held fresh for over a year. 



Although the freezing of berries in syrup at 10° F. and packing in 

 kegs and cans have been practiced since 1900 and about 70,000 barrels of 

 strawberries and raspberries are still packed in the Pacific Northwest each 

 year, fruit is now made available in tight rectangular cartons or paraffined 

 cardboard. Commercial companies have taken advantage of research 

 carried out by the Bureau of Plant Industry at the University of Cali- 

 fornia and the Georgia Experimental Station. Since a large proportion 

 of the fruit is eaten raw, they have shown that it is important to prevent 

 shrinkage, to maintain the flavor, to reduce oxidation, and thereby to 

 preserve the natural color of the raw fruit. 



Various companies differ in the pre-treatments, the minimum tem- 

 peratures, and the rates of application of temperatures which they use 

 to produce their particular product. Sharp freezing in fruit chambers 

 at 0° F., spraying a cold liquid over fresh fruit, moving it through a 

 cylinder where the air is blown toward it, and placing it in contact 

 with plates at 40° F. are four of the most common freeing methods. 

 After the fruit is frozen the finished product must be stored in a freezing 

 temperature. Facilities for marketing of this product have become 

 very efficient during the last few years. 



Some growers have found it to their advantage to adapt a portion of 

 their apple cold storage to freeze surplus fruit in heavy-crop years. 

 This practice of freezing fruit in the home storage stabilizes the mar- 

 ket and is a new outlet for produce. In 1938, in New York State, 22 

 million pounds of sour cherries were frozen. Many strawberries are 

 "cold packed" in North Carolina, Maryland, Louisiana, and Tennessee; 

 cherries in Michigan and New York; cranberries in Massachusetts; and 

 other fruits in smaller quantities in limited sections where they are 

 grown. 



In most fruit districts the large cold-storage plants have freezing 

 lockers which they rent to growers for their own use for as little as 

 $8.00 a year. In these a large part of the year's supply of various prod- 

 ucts may be kept for family use. Some growers install their own 

 lockers. Lockers aa-e available on the community basis in some sections. 



