The Delta independent., 1896-03-11
The Cold Storage OF Fruits.

Care should be taken in picking and
packing fruit for keeping. 10 use only
sound, perfect fruit. 1t should be pack
ed firmly. yet not hard enough to bruise
it. When apples are stored awaiting
market q good plan is to gather all sound
fruit and pack in the orchard in boxes
or barrels and nail the tops securely, the
nearer air tight the packages the better
the fruit will keep. It is well to place
scantling or something that will take
the place-on the cellar floor about Is
inches apart in order to allow the air
to circulate under the tiers. When the
apples are to be sold they should be
carefully sorted and all poor fruit thrown
out and two grades made OF the perfect
fruit.
Nearly all Of our Colorado cellars are
too dry, 4 cellar built on the north
slope OF 4 hill where the ground is slight
ly moist is to be preferred; where the
ground is very dry it would be well to
locate the cellar near a ditch or some
water supply that could be run into the
collar through pipe or hose and moisten
the bottom as it is required. Fruit
stored in dry place soon willis and
shrivels. but where there is 4 reasonable
amount of moisture it will remain plump
and retain its flavor. There should be
several yen;ilators according to the size
OF the cellar, in winter they will require
watching-in very cold weather they
should be closed tight. Several lamps
or an oil stove placed in cellar on a
yesy cold night will often prevent the
temperature from going below the
danger line. As soon as the weather
moderates open veat.atoEs during the
day and as i: gets warm reverse the
order BE sure and have one or two
thermometers in 4 convenient place
where the temperature IS about the aver
age OF the cellar. Pears placed in cool
dark room or cellar will ripen up evenly
and turn that rich golden color that
attracts the eye Of the buyer. II they
are to be shipped to near by market
for Immediate consumption they should
be sent when they show the frat signs
Z
keeping they may besent green. Apples
will keep for weeks in air tight packages
at temperature OF u degrees. though l
believe that is about the limit. They
will keep just above the freezing point,
when the temperature approaches the
freezing point few pals or vessels of
water placed in various parts OF the
cellar on the iioor will be great pre-
veutatiye against freezing. Some of the
best kept apples ever saw were in a
cellar in tight barrels where the thermom
eter registered 26 degrees for several
weeks and by accident lot Of water ran
ia tho cellar and covered over one-halt
the floor an inch deep which froze to
solid ice. The floor was made OF match
cd flooring and the barrels were two
inches from the floor on scantling the
apples were taken out in April and May
and when the hoops were loosened the
heads bulged up and there was scarcely
decayed apple in a barrel. When re-
moving fruit from cold storage care
should be exercised aud not expose it to
sudden change. A good time to remove
i. is on cool days or early in the morning.
Whom the change is very sudden the fruit
swea,s and il it is to be sorted the bloom
rubs OF aud does not look as tempting
nor keep as we'll.
When grapes are to be placed in cold
storage one should be very careful when
they are put in the baskets and not
mash any of them, The bruised grapes
lose their juice which coon molds and
often spoils the entire package.
do not approve OF bufying fruit in
pits as means of cold storage, 1t loses
that delicious flavor that we in Colorado
claim is superior to many other parts Of
the country. besides it is liable TO scald
and does not keep we'll when it is expos-
ed to the air. Allfruit placed on storage
should have good circulation of air,
l.. w, SwErrzER,