SE ee OR See 
CONDITIONS FOR STORAGE OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 3 
of the product in storage is essential to avoid losses from deteriora- 
tion and decay resulting from improper methods of handling to which 
commercial stocks often are subjected. 
Under the column headed “Storage period” in the table, it is not 
intended to fix absolute storage limits, or the time at which stored 
perishable food products must be placed on the market. It is intended 
rather to indicate the storage period which experience has shown to 
be generally. safe for the various products, and after which, in some 
cases, decline in market value is likely to begin. The storage period 
refers to the length of time the product, when properly handled, may 
be safely held if placed in storage in its normal season. 
ESSENTIALS OF SUCCESSFUL STORAGE. 
A brief consideration of the fundamental factors governing the suc- 
cessful handling and storage of the food product involved will help to 
make clear the data presented in the table. The following discussion 
of the proper methods of handling and the warehouse conditions 
adapted to the successful storage of these products is intended merely 
to supplement and explain the information contained in the table. 
APPLES. 
There is a wide variation in the storage quality of the different va- 
rieties of apples and of the same variety grown in different regions. 
The results of commercial experience usually indicate the relative 
storage season of different varieties in a given region." 
The inherent keeping qualities of apples in storage are definitely 
related to the cultural and orchard sanitation practices of the erower, 
who is responsible for the production of sound, properly matured fruit. 
To have good keeping qualities, apples should be fully grown and well 
colored. When properly matured and colored they are less likely to 
scald and are in better condition generally to be held in storage for the 
maximum period. Apples that from a storage standpoint are overripe, 
whether they have ripened on the trees or while awaiting delayed 
storage, have passed their prime condition and may be expected to 
deteriorate quickly in storage. 
_ Apples should be handled in all the operations of picking, grading, 
packing and hauling with that degree of care necessary to prevent 
serious bruising, skin punctures or other mechanical injuries. To 
insure soundness and good keeping quality, apples must be properly 
grown, carefully handled in harvesting and packing and stored as 
quickly as possible after they are picked. 

1 Ramsey, H. J., and others. The handling and storage of apples in the Pacific 
Northwest, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 587. 1917. 
