1130 
entire membership is filled. The hoard of directors 
is made up of one farmer from each of the 19 towns 
of Onondaga County, two from Cayuga County and 
one from Madison County. We have a president, 
three vice-presidents, secretary, treasurer, manager, 
and an executive committee of five members. We 
employ our own hay pressers, who are instructed 
that nothing but good, sound hay shall be put 
through the press. We employ five competent and 
disinterested men whose sole duty it is to examine 
and grade every bale of hay shipped, allowing noth¬ 
ing to enter a car except the grade ordered. 
JOHN MC LENNAN. 
Construction of a Cold-storage Plant. 
F ORMS OF STORAGE.—Before getting too deep¬ 
ly into the subject of cold storage, I wish to 
state that I am greatly indebted to Mr. J. R. Cornell 
of Newburgh, N. Y., who has the reputation in pom- 
ological circles of being one of the most practical 
fruit growers of New York State, for the propor¬ 
tions used in these drawings, as this has been 
worked up after his cold storage plant. There are 
the following kinds of storage: A. Common storage 
(air ventilated). B. Ice storage. C. Mechanical 
refrigeration. D. Brine process. In this article I 
expect to take up only B, the ice storage. Ice stor¬ 
age is a modification of a common storage house. 
It is to be recommended because it is cheap. The 
ice may be stored in an ice house during the Win¬ 
ter when the men and horse are not very busy. 
Here we should consider ventilation, insulation and 
humidity. 
CONSTRUCTION.—It is well, when constructing 
a cold storage, to build it strong and durable in the 
beginning, even though it is only one story, be¬ 
cause you never know when conditions may be such 
that you will want to add a second story. Now be¬ 
fore going into detail I will give the outside dimen¬ 
sions of a cold storage that will hold 800 barrels. 
The top is 18 ft. 3% in. by 29 ft. 2% in., and it is 
16 ft. 2% in. in height from the surface of the low¬ 
er floor to the top of the ice chest. The rooms are 
as follows: First floor anteroom, inside dimensions 
7 ft. 10 in. long by 49 in. deep and 6 ft. 414 in. high; 
first story room, 16 ft. 4 in. wide, 14% ft. long by 6 
ft. 4% in. high; second room, 16 ft. 4 in. wide by 
13 ft. 3% in. and 6 ft. 4% in. high. Second floor 
anteroom, 6 ft. 8 in. high by 34% in. deep and 6% 
ft. logn. see plan second floor, Fig. 427. 
FLOORS AND WALLS.—The floors may be con¬ 
structed in the same way as the side walls, but it 
is not advisable to construct the first floor that way 
because of rats. This may be a concrete floor of 
any desired thickness, and should extend up the 
sides of the cold storage plant to a little above 
the level of the ground on the outside. There 
should be some kind of an outlet in the middle of 
the ground floor rooms with the floor grading down 
toward it, so that in case any water should get in 
from any source it would be carried off and pre¬ 
vent dampness. The side wall and ceilings and 
floor, second story, may be constructed as follows: 
First, an outside concrete wall, next inside 2 ft. by 
4 in. studding and then a layer of matched % in. by 
6 in. boards; a layer of paper (insulating or build¬ 
er’s) ; a layer of boards running at right angles to 
the first so that there will be no possibility of joints 
running parallel causing the paper to crack; another 
layer of paper, boards, paper, boards. The space 
between the concrete and the first layer of boards 
may be packed with shavings or left as an air 
space but the former is to be preferred. 
SECOND METHOD.—In this case the frame 
would be constructed of 2x6 inch placed a certain 
distance apart according to the idea of the builder. 
In the drawing, Fig. 429, A. and B. they are 24 
inches apart. On each side of these is nailed a 
covering of matched %x6 in. boards. On the inside 
three alternate coatings of paper and boards and on 
the other a coating of paper and air space and then 
another coating of boards. In this instance it would 
be better to have both sides built with four layers 
of boards and three of paper and no air space, 
as it is thought that the packed shavings in between 
the 2x6 in. furnish this. This last plan is for a 
storage for early fruit during June and July. For 
late fruit it would not need to have so many lay¬ 
ers of boards. When constructing a cold storage 
do not finish any one part before finishing the 
rest, as it will leave a joint that will not be properly 
insulated. For instance give each room an entire 
layer of boards, side walls, ceiling, etc., then put 
on the second layer after the paper has been put on. 
The last layer of boards should always be at right 
angles to the previous layer. 
DOORS.—The door here shown is 39 in. by 6 ft. 2 
in. (see Fig. 429, C.) It consists of a doube case 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
September 18, 1015. 
with insulating paper between the cases and the 
inner case being packed with shavings. These doors 
may be made of any dimensions to suit the build¬ 
er. They should be made so that they fit just snug 
and not tight If they are made to fit tightly, they 
will not fit well when the cold storage contains ice. 
First floor Plan 
000 
1 A ! 
6 0 
\ 
0 0 
0 
> 
> 
0 
OA AO 
0 0 
0 - 0 
A 
A 
OOO 
OOO 
Ante-Boom. 
Second Floor Plan 
Spaces between boards Poor 
indicate Insulating Paper 
LongitudinaJ V/ad 
Cross Section 
Wall and Door Construction. Fig. 429. 
Ordinary refrigerator bolts and hinges will do for 
the door. 
ICE CHESTS AND FLUES.—These extend down 
through both floors if it is a two-story building. 
They are made of galvanized iron as per drawing 
A and B, Fig 428. The doors to the chests are 
made of two sets of boards with paper between, and 
should be made so that they will fit tightly. The 
larger the flues and chests the larger the pieces of 
ice they will accommodate, and thus they will not 
need so much attention. The ice is raised to the 
top of the cold storage with an elevator, and there 
the ice is broken up and packed in the flues and 
chests. The flues extend down to within 19 inches 
of the floor; here they enter a tray about four to 
six inches deep which catches the “run-off.” and 
which is built up underneath so that the weight of 
the ice will not break it down. All the “run-offs” 
may be connected to one leader and in this way 
conducted to the outside of the building. The ice 
chests are set in so that their innermost side is 
against the wall of the room so as to bring the flues 
as near as possible to the side of the room, and 
thus not take up any more room than possible. 
There are four sets of these flues in each room; 
this makes them evenly distributed about the room, 
one set in the middle of each side. This is the 
particular and one of the most important parts to 
a cold storage plant, so it must be well installed. 
VENTILATION.—This may be arranged by a 
series of air shafts and registers so that here is a 
limited amount of air flow, the amount of flow de¬ 
pending on the temperature outside, the temperatui’e 
inside and the kind of fruit being stored. (See Fig. 
426.) This is an important point to consider, and 
plays a very important part during the Winter 
when apples are stored during that period. Ven¬ 
tilation plays a very important part in combination 
with the other two in keeping down the growth of 
spores, of fungi and molds, removing the damp air. 
Ventilation is facilitated by the use of slat packages. 
INSULATION.—This is the most important fac¬ 
tor. The expense of storing fruit depends on the 
insulation, the poorer the insulation, the more it will 
take to keep a specific temperature. By insulation 
we mean an arrangement of materials to form a 
compartment so that heat or cold cannot pass in or 
out through the parts that ai’e insulated. This 
is further discussed under construction. 
HUMIDITY.—The proper amount is from 93 to 
95 degrees; this is recommended by the State de¬ 
partment. Dirty floors increase the humidity to a 
great extent, therefore keep your floors clean. To 
determine the humidity of a cooler, hang a hydro¬ 
meter in the room. Any good make that is used for 
determining frosts will do. o. f. w. cromwell. 
The Problem of Curing Alfalfa. 
W OULD you invite your readers to relate their 
experience with Alfalfa hay when put away 
damp or not fully cured, using the word “cured” 
here as it is usually applied to Timothy and clover 
hay? It has been a problem in Monmouth Co., N. 
J., (only 10 miles from the seashore), to get the 
first crop of Alfalfa cured enough to go into the 
barn, and this year we have had the same trouble 
with the second and third cuttings. Last year we 
put Alfalfa in the mows while yet damp; I may 
say not much more than half cured (as compared 
to fully cured Timothy hay). So much heat gen¬ 
erated in the top of the mows that we became very 
much alarmed, and expected lo see the barn burst 
out into a blaze almost any hour. Some said, “Keep 
the barns closed tightly,” but I took the opposite 
course and opened wide every window and door. 
Soon the heat passed and we did not lose a pound 
of hay, and it came out good in color and odor and 
with the leaves on like the day it was cut. 
Now I do not advise storing Alfalfa unless cured, 
or recommend “steam-cured” Alfalfa simply because 
I have not tried all plans long enough to venture 
positive statements. But it does appear that if Al¬ 
falfa is mowed away carefully, and tramped tight¬ 
ly, that it can get surprisingly hot and not spoil. 
Upon this point I believe a lot of valuable wisdom 
may be gained by putting our heads together. So 
let’s hear both sides from those who speak from 
actual, enlightening experience. If Alfalfa may be 
mowed away, say when only two-thirds cured, it 
will help save the leaves and make Alfalfa haying 
less of a problem. 
I do not cock my Alfalfa hay—do not think it 
pays. This year I used a side delivery rake and 
a hay loader. Never again will I go back to the 
old style of haying. Pitching hay from windrow or 
cock into a wagon is a thing of the past, like bind¬ 
ing wheat by hand, for instance. In a fair test I 
put on five loads of over one ton each per hour. It 
took three men on the wagon. The driver tramped 
the front end as the loader (center man) pushed 
the hay to him and kept the front high. The men 
at the barn had to hustle to keep us in wagons. 
Alfalfa is a great crop, and the side-delivery rake 
and hayloader are indispensable tools. 
THERON MC CAMPBELL. 
