WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
175 
August, 1919 
in order to reduce (ho temperature 
earlier in the fall and to hold It 
near the freezing point throughout 
the winter, quite different results 
will he obtained than those gener- 
ally secured. This statement is 
Open false floor made of 2 x 4 or 2x6 
I material spaced one-half inch or more 
I apart, enabling the cold air taken in 
I underneath the fruit to cool it more 
I rapidly. 
made after observing fruit and 
keeping many records in houses of 
various growers. Good methods 
and good keeping quality go hand 
in hand. 
One or more accurate thermome- 
ters are essential for the successful 
management of a storage house. 
They should be tested at 32 degrees 
in crushed ice to see if they record 
the proper temperature. Place the 
thermometers in different parts of 
the house and consult them twice 
daily — not to see how cold the 
house is but to see how hot it is. 
Whenever the temperature of the 
house becomes warmer than the air 
outside, turn on all drafts, open 
the ventilators, both top and bot- 
tom, and allow as much air to pass 
through the house as possible. As 
soon as these temperature condi- 
tions change close all the ventila- 
tors and allow no warm air to en- 
ter. As a general rule, to follow 
these instructions means that early 
in the season all ventilators should 
be opened in the evening and 
closed early the following morning. 
The night air is cool, and within a 
short time after harvest it drops 
below the freezing point. This air 
will cool the storage, and quick 
cooling means better keeping qual- 
ity. If, however, the vents are 
left open both day and night all 
advantage of the cool night air is 
lost during the day. This is the 
basis upon which many houses are 
operated, but it is not good man- 
agement. 
In answer to the statement some- 
times given that it is difficult to 
keep the storage closed during the 
day when the fruit is being har- 
vested, it might be suggested that 
in so far as possible the fruit 
should be allowed to remain under 
the trees during the night and 
should be hauled in early the fol- 
lowing morning. This method has 
the double advantage of getting 
cool fruit into a cool room. Where 
it must be brought in during the 
heat of the day it might be left on 
the platform over night. Either 
method is preferable to putting 
warm fruit directly in the storage 
room. If this method cannot be 
Packing; room above, with storage be- 
low. The air intakes to the basement 
(where the shutters are lifted) are 
sufficiently large. The small outlet 
flues in the crown of the roof are en- 
tirely inadequate. 
avoided the boxes should be taken 
in on a conveyor which passes 
through a small opening in the 
wall. This will allow much less 
warm air to enter the storage room 
than would come through a large 
door. The thermometers should 
be watched and the temperature 
kept on the decline. Each extra 
degree of heat in the storage early 
A three-story packing and storage 
house. The packing room containing 
the windows is entirely separate from 
the storage a very desirable feature. 
The air intakes are located under the 
loading- platform. Note the two large 
outlet flues. 
in the season means several days 
off the life of the apple next spring. 
The keeping quality of the apple 
is lost in the fall, not in the spring. 
As a further aid in quick cooling 
enough space should be left be- 
tween the stacks of fruit in the 
storage so that the air can have 
free circulation around at least a 
part of each box. Main aisle ways 
in the house should be left directly 
in front of and above the intake 
windows. If fruit is stacked di- 
rectly over these intakes it de- 
creases their efficiency very much. 
Except in emergency cases boxes 
should not be stacked more than 
six or seven high. Tf stacked lo 
the ceiling the circulating air is 
again cut off and the cooling of the 
fruit retarded. Whatever type of 
house one may own, or contemplate 
owning, good consistent manage- 
ment counts for more than any- 
thing else. 
Better Fruit, July 1919 
