Evening journal., 1910-05-06
BERRY FLAVOR
IS FED BY FROST
James J. Hill Has Plan That
Improves Cold Storage
Business

Fresh red raspberries all through |
the winter and spring, just as firm
and with just as delicate flavor as
the newly picked berries in July. This
is the latest triumph of the cold
storage warehouses OF Chicago. Red
raspberries that were stored la
Chicago cold-storge warehouse last
July by ID. r. Steify, South Water
street produce merchant as an ex-
pertinent. were taken out last week
and found TO he In perfect condition
for the most fastidiOus appetite
This experiment marks another
great advance In the development of
the modern cold-storage business, an
Improvement, according TO James }.
HilL on the promitive cold-storagu
methods pracuced for centuries by the
farmers when they buried their fruits
and vegetables to keep them overl
from the period of plenty to the period
of scarcity i'm production.
Previous experiments have proved
the possibility of keeping fresh cher
ries and strawberries through The win
ter and spring-this part OF the busi-
ness now being well established among
the South Water street merchants.
It has also been proved that fresh
Tomatoes may be kept in perfect con-
dition for two months and fresh
peaches for the same length of time.
Oranges and lemons are stored for
commercial use and kept i'm good con-
dition for two months
Pears Keep Long Time.
The harder varieties of pears are kept
in cold storage for months without
any i'm effects resulting Potat ies are
kept occasionally. There is no diih-
Guilty from the keeping viewpoint, but
the range of prices for potatoes is
not great enough to make their stor-
age a paying proposition. Mr.. Stcffy
/ put eight carloads of potatoes in stor-
! age I'm July at the time of the freight
/ teamsters strike because he could not
/ sell them for enough to pay the
freight on them from Michigan; he
I took them out of storage in Septem-
/ Der in perfect condition and disposed
of them so that he suffered no hnan-
cial loss.
The zoo merchants of Souta Water
street do a business of about $3.50, 600, -
600 a year handling probably two
thirds of the food products including
veal. but excepting meats and -four -
consumed I'm Chicago. SO great has
been the Improvement in the cold
storage methods in recent years that
mcst of these dealers predict tee time
is not far distant when practically
all of the perishable foods, for the res
idents of the larger cities especially,
will come through the -storages
warehouses. The argument to sup
port this prediction is that Il will
mean more uniform price, a better
average quality and a more certain
supply.
Thousands Of Barrels Of Apples.
Al the present time thousands of
barrels of apples are kept m cold stor-
aee from the season of plenty In the
season OF scarcity; celery Is supplied
10 the tables of Chicago through prac-
tically all the year, because Il Is pre-
served in the coolers" for months.
coming out as good as or better than
when IL went ms
These are oniy side issues in the
cold storage business at present. The
bulk of the business stil consists of
tsgs. poultry, butter. FISH ana meats.
The method of preserving delicate
fruits in the cold-storage houses prob
ably will surprise most persons who
have the idea that freezing would spoil
them. The red raspberries, cherries
and Strawberries are frozen solid and
are stored in rooms maintained at a
steady temperature OF several degrees
below freezing. When taken from
storage they are spread out and sugar
ed SO they can thaw without mashing.
When thawed they are ready to eat
and will keep in good condition for
two or three days.
Commercial Possibilities.
The furnishing OF fresh berries in
the winter TO private homes probably
viii not become a common occurrence
! for some time, because such careful