Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-11-12
KINsMAK STREET FRUIT HOUSE.
Construction Of the building. and an
Account of the new Mode of Pre-
serving Fruit, &c. 'tz-


of two apartments, an upper and lower
separated from the room below by floor of
galvanized iron, whose edges are closely
riveted and soldered SO as to be completely
water-tight.
The sides of the building are made Of
two castings of sheet iron three and half
feet apart, the edges painted and
closely nailed to upright studding,
and the intervening space is filed with
| dry sawdust and short shsvings from the
planning mills. The floor of the preserving
room is made of galvanized iron, and be-
low this there is 8 layer, three feet thick,
of shsvings which lay upon coating OF
coal tar and pitch, which is spread an half
inch deep all over the ground to prevent
! the entrance of moisture from the earth.
Two wind-wheels are seen on the top of
the building geared to fans in the preserv-
| ing apartment In basin seven feet wide,
which is part of the floor extending the
whole length of the three different rooms
of the preserving apartment, is spread the
| chloride of calcium, substance which has
great power of absorbing the vapors OF the
air.
Now the elements of good preserving,
atmosphere are these coldness, purity,
dryness, absence of light, equality Of tenn
perature, and, if possible, the exclusion Of
the great agent of decomposition, the oxy-
gen of the air. These are all secured IN
great perfection in this house. The ther-
mometer stands little below "a and does
not vary single degree from this point at
any time, in any part of the rooms, from
April to October.
The air is pure, because every source OF
impurity is excluded.
Dryness,-this is the chief patentable
feature Of this house and new mode or pro-
cess of preserving fruits. The vapor aris-
ing from different fruits is very great,
averaging, even in cold weather, at least
one half gallon liquid per week for every
one hundred bushels of fruit.
There are nowin the house 5000 bu. ofap-
pies and six and one half tonsiOf grapes. (It
will hold 1900 bushels.) The absorbent
has already taken up about $50 gallons, or
one ton of water.
The water thus absorbed runs out from
the floor through tubes at the rear end o!
the building, and is there dried in large
pans of sheet iron, over furnace. 1t is
then returned to the house to take up vapor
as before. The same substance has been
used thirty or forty times, without much
waste.
Alter the fruit has ali been chilled down
TO S47, the air in a room so completely con-
fined becomes very still. The fans are
used to give circulation to this air and
! bring the moisture, which arises from the
fruit, in contact with the chloride ofealci-
um, 10 be absorbed by it.
In the gradual ripening Of fruit hydrogen
and carbon are constantly given oil. The
oxygen of the air unites with the former to
form wafer, and with the latter to form
carbonic acid. This process, in any confined,
air-tight vessel filled with fruit generally
consumes all the oxygen of the Oontained
air. especially if the fruit be ripe, in about
| fOrty-eight hours.
The rooms, if closed up now for twodays,
put outa candle almost instantly. The fruit
now remains in an atmosphere composed
entirely of the nitrogen of the air and car
bonic acid. The former is destitute Of all
active properties, good or bad. the latter
is not sufficiently acid to produce any ac-
ton unless under heavy pressure on sub
stances immersed in it. The hydrogen
and carbon Of the fruit cease to be evolved
as there ia now no agent to unite with
them, in the same way that they cease to
be evolved from burning candle when the
air is excluded. Decomposition then ceases
in both cases, and for the same reason.
The sources of profit, in return for this
heavy outlay are chiefly these:
First, By this mode of treatment ap-
pies are kept fresh, crisp and in full flavor
for the months of May, June and July.
Second, Grapes and pears are kept far
beyond the usual season of using and en-
enjoying them.
Third, Lemons and oranges may be laid
in these preserving rooms in the sPring,
and kept in a most perfect state of preser-
walton, during the summer months.
And Fourth, Canned fruits, put up in
six gallon cans, may be kept open IN this
house with impunity, and sold from daytO
day without danger of spelling, their con-
tents remaining good three or four weeks
despite the exposure. The keeping Of but
ter, eggs, oysters, pine apples, &C., &C., is
also sometimes found to be profitable.
We have said the house contains now but
about 5000 bushels of apples, while it
might contain 1900. 1t may occur to some,
why the building was not filed if
the process of preserving fruit till past
its season is a success, and perfectly safe.
The requisite number of bushels Of apples
could not be obtained in the season when it
is absolutely necessary they should be put
up in order to secure their perfect keeping.
Fruit must be put up in a greenish state,
that is, it must not be too ripe. For to il
lustrate and explain, Liebig says that fruit,
when it first comes from the tree in green
state, contains portien Of starch. Scrape
green apple into pulp, mix it with water
and strain the liqui4 into a glass, and soon
whitish sediment is preciPitated. This
is starch, and It may be used to stiffen
linen as well as the starch of commerce.
But in short time after the fruit has been
disjoined from the tree no such substance
is found to settle from the juices of the
fruit. The starch has turned into
sugar. This substance proper does not
putrefy, Putrefaction occurs after the
chInge into the saccharine state, and
although it may, in this saccharine state,
putrefy at $40, starch is with EXTREMIST
slowness and difficulty changed into sugar
at that temperature. and hence the safety