Vol. L1X. No. 2621. 
NEW YORK, APRIL 21, 1900. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
THE COLD STORAGE OF FRUITS. 
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS AT DARTFOBD, ENGLAND. 
Effect of Varied Temperatures. 
THE CONDITIONS.—In each chamber the fruit is 
stored under three different conditions, exposed on 
the shelves, enveloped in grease-proof paper, and 
surrounded or covered by cotton wool. The last two 
conditions are supplied with a view to checking the 
loss of weight from the fruit by evaporation, which, 
it was anticipated, would take place. The increased 
weight of the air of the chambers as it is cooled by 
contact with the cold brine walls, causes a downward 
current over 'them, and of course a corresponding 
upward current at other parts of the 
chambers. There is, therefore, a con¬ 
stant circulation of air maintained. 
These incessant air currents passing 
over the surface of the fruit extract 
moisture from i't, and hence the use 
of the interposing materials to check 
this continual drying process. 
STRAWBERRIES. — In dealing 
with the different fruits experiment¬ 
ed with, I will first of all take the 
strawberry. It was nearly at the 
end of the season of this fruit, 
namely, July 23, when my visits be¬ 
gan. I could therefore, only report 
on fruit placed in previously. The 
temperature of No. 1 chamber was 
maintained at 42 degrees, of No. 2 at 
36 degrees, and of No. 3 at 30 de¬ 
grees. I found a very striking dif¬ 
ference in the condition of the fruit, 
all of which had been put in two 
weeks before, on July 8. 
That in No. 1 was moldy, al¬ 
though the fruit inclosed in paper 
was hardly so bad as that exposed, 
and that in wool. In No. 2 the ex¬ 
posed fruit was a little moldy, but 
not so bad as in No. 1; wool fruit 
slightly affected, but very little, 
flavor good; paper fruit sound, 
flavor good. With regard to No. 3 
the state of affairs was better. In 
each experiment the fruit was quite 
sound and good. It was not frozen, 
in spite of the temperature of 30 de¬ 
grees, but a slight 'toughness of the 
flesh was observable. The exposed 
fruit, though sound, was dull, and 
had a glazed appearance. That in 
paper was good and fresh. Weekly 
visits were subsequently paid. So 
far as the highest temperature was 
concerned the experiment was at an 
end, as the fruit was spoiled. The 
intermediate temperature gave little 
better results, and after the 'third 
week of storage the greater part of 
the fruit was decaying. In the 30-degrees chamber, 
'however, a very different state of affairs prevailed. 
At the end oi the third week 'the exposed fruit in No. 
3 was all sound, but dull and flabby-looking, the flesh 
tough; the fruit in wool was sound, clear, and fresh, 
the flavor excellent; the fruit in paper sound, but 
dull, and flesh rather tough. The strawberry experi¬ 
ments may be epitomised as follows: 1, The fruit 
cannot be kept long in a temperature of 36 degrees 
or upwards; 2, It can be kept for three weeks at 
least in a temperature of 30 degrees; 3, It is neces¬ 
sary to surround the fruit with cotton wool, or. in 
'the case or fruit in crates, to place a pad of that 
material over the top. if this precaution is not taken, 
the fruit, though sound, becomes dull, and loses the 
fresh inviting appearance which is so important when 
it is offered for sale. 
BLACK CURRANTS.—A series of experiments 
with these began on August 10, and weekly observa¬ 
tions were made. In No. 1 chamber the temperature 
was 36 degrees, in No. 2 30 degrees and in No. 3 26 
degrees. At the end of 10 days the fruit was sound, 
fresh, clear and in good marketable condition. From 
that time it began to shrivel, there being little to 
choose between the cnambers, or the fruit exposed 
in paper and in wool, respectively. Inasmuch as the 
value of black currants may rise if good fruit can 
be held over a glut lasting only a few days, I was 
THE TULIP TREE—BUD, BLOOM AND LEAF. Fig. 85. See Page 283. 
disposed to regard this experiment as a qualified suc¬ 
cess rather than an absolute failure. Nevertheless, the 
fact that the fruit could not be kept from shriveling 
for a fortnight was a disappointment. Subsequently 
the idea occurred to me to have some of the fruit 
removed from the store and kept for a few hours in 
a normal temperature, thus subjecting it to the same 
conditions as would prevail in the case of fruit en 
route from farm to market. This was done at the 
end of the third and again at the end of the fourth 
week. It elicited a curious, interesting, and instruc¬ 
tive fact, namely, that the fruit, when almost as 
wrinkled as dried shop currants, will plump and 
freshen to such a degree as to be marketable. This 
was especially the case with black currants that had 
been stored in market craltes covered with a wad of 
cotton wool. After a fortnight’s storage the tem¬ 
perature in No. 2 was raised to 32 degrees, and this 
served to give the best results of all. 
RED CURRANTS.—The experiments with this 
fruit were an unqualified success. No. 1 chamber 
was maintained ait 36 degrees; No. 2 was started at 
30 degrees and raised after 'two weeks to 32; No. 3 
was started at 26 degrees and raised to 30 degrees. 
The fruit was stored on August 10 and was exam¬ 
ined with great care for six consecutive weeks. To 
begin, 26 degrees and even 30 degrees were found to 
be too cold. With the former the fruit froze, and 
with the latter lost clearness. Excel¬ 
lent results were, however, got in 
chambers 1 ana 2. The fruit re¬ 
mained perfectly sound for six 
weeks, and when exposed for 16 
hours to a normal temperature, 
maintained its freshness. The fruit 
surrounded oy paper was better than 
that exposed, and also superior to 
that in wool; indeed, it was difficult 
to distinguish it from freshly-gath¬ 
ered fruit. Wool seemed to encour¬ 
age bleeding, and the ideal condi¬ 
tions seemed to be (1) a temperature 
of 32 to 36 degrees; (2) a covering of 
paper to prevent contact with the 
currents of air constantly flowing. 
CHERRIES.—The temperature of 
No. 1 chamber was kept at 42 de¬ 
grees, of No. 2, 36 degrees and of 
No. 3, 30 degrees for cnis fruit. It 
had been in storage a fortnight when 
I began my visits. In No. 1 the ex¬ 
posed fruit was sound, but dull; the 
fruit in wool was not only sound but 
quite fresh and clear; that in paper 
was somewhat moldy. The end of 
the third week found all the fruit 
decaying and moldy. A much better 
condition of affairs existed in the 
intermediate chamber. At the end 
of the third week all the fruit was 
quite sound. A defect of the fruit 
exposed (and in a lesser degree than 
in paper) was that it was dull. The 
fruit covered with wool, however, 
was not only sound, sweet and juicy, 
but fresh and clear. The same con¬ 
dition was observable at the end of 
the fourth week. After that the fruit 
began to wrinkle. Almost the same 
remarks apply to No. 3. At the end 
of the month the fruit was sound, 
but flabby and dull, exposed, and in 
paper; wool-covered, clear and fresh. 
GENERAL REMARKS.—The fol¬ 
lowing are important points: The 
fruits must be placed in storage 
in advance of dead ripeness. This is particularly 
the case with strawberries. Fruits that are fully 
ripe will keep for some time, but lose surface fresh¬ 
ness, becoming seared and unsightly. It is useless to 
put injured fruit in store. Cherries pecked by birds 
soon go off, and other fruits impaired in any way will 
not keep. To achieve success the fruit must be 
sound. The fruit should be covered or surrounded 
with cotton wool. It was observable that fruit so 
treated retained its freshness much longer than that 
left exposed. The chambers must be kept dry, and 
close-fitting doors are necessary, otherwise damp and 
gritty impurities find entrance. We had a little 
initial trouble with No. 2 on this account, and after 
