The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-03-29
HASPBERRIESl
WINTER FlRUITBY
REFRIGERA ALTON.
successful
Experiment Is
MadeIn Chicago

MadelnCh1cagO
CHICAGO. March 2s.-Fresh red
raspberries all through the winter and
spring. Just as firm and with Just
as delicate flavor as the newly pick
ed berries of Chicago. This is the lat-
est triumph of the cold storage ware
houses Of Chicago. Red raspberrles
that were stored in Chicago cold
storage warehouse last July by D.. n.
Sicily. a South Water street produce
merchant, as an experiment, were talk.
en- out last week and found to be in
perfect condition for the most fastidi-i
GUS appetite. VI n ID
This experiment marks another
great advance In the development of
tho modern storage business, an Inn.
provement, according to James J. Hill.
on the primitive cold storage meth.
eds practiced for centuries by the,
farmers when they buried their fruits
and vegetables to keep them over
from the period Of plenty to the Pc
riod. Of: scarcity In reproduction.
Z Previous experiments have proved
the possibility of keeping fresh cher
ries and strawberries through the.
winter and sprlng-thls part OF the
business now. being well established
among the South Water street mer-
chants H, y. Il ~ ~ ss,3 I.
1T has also been proved that freshS
tomatoes may be kept in perfect con-
dltion for two months. and fresh.
peahes for the same length of time.
Oranges and lemons are stored for
commercial use and kept In good con-
dition for two months.
x Harder varieties of pears are kept
in cold storage for months without any
Ill effects resulting. Potatoes are kept
occasionally. There is no difficulty from
the keeping viewpoint but the range
OF prices for potatoes Is not great
enough to make their storage paying
proposition. Mr.. Sicily put s carloads
OF potatoes IN storage in July at tho
time of the freight transfers strike
because he could not sell them 70.
enough to pay the freight on then,
from Michigan: he took them out of
storage in September in perfect con.
,lition and disposed of them SO that
he suffered no financial loss. -s
The 700 merchants OF South Water
street do, business of about s250OOo..
600 a year. handling probably two.
n D
thirds Of the food Notwithstanding
veal. but excepting meat and -four
consumed in Chicago So great has
been the improvements in the cold
storage methods In recent years that
mott OF these dealers predict the time
Is not far distant when practically all
OF the nerishable foods. for the resi-
dents Of the larger cities especially.
will come through the coil storage
warehouses. The argument TO sup
uort this prediction is that 1t will
mean a more uniform price. better
average quality and n more certain
supply.
At the present TIME thousands of
barrels OF apples are kept in cold stor-
age from the season OF plenty to the
season Of scarcity; celery Is supplied
to the tables of Chicago through prac-
tically all the year because 1t is pre-
served In the coolers" for months.
coming out us good or better than
when 1t went In"
These are only the side issues i'm the
cold storage, business Mt preent- The
bulk OF the business still consists of
eggs. poultry, butter. fish and 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 raspberrles, cher.
rles and strawberries are frozen solid
and are stored In rooms maintained at
q steady temperature OF several de-
grees below freezing. When taken
from storage they are spread out and
sugaretl so they can thaw without
MASKING. When thawed t.ey are
ready, to eat and will keep In good con-
d = u FL d.
lltion for two or three days.
The furnishing of fresh berries in
the winter to private homes probably
will not become n common occurrence
for, some time. because such careful
handling is needed when they are TAX.
en- from cold storage. make it n
comemrcial possibility would entail
the Installation by the retailer OF cold
storage refrigerators where the ber.
rles could be kept without tllawIng
for some time, until sold to the. Gus.
toner. This would add some to the
cost but even then the berries could
be supplied to the consumer ut lower
prices than are charged for the first
fresh winter grown berries that are
shipped to Chicago from the south.