Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-22
Frozen Oranges Saved By
Cold Storage.

IOl0 Storage.
Most everyone knows that the win
ter Of 1928 will go down in history
in Southern California as the winter
of the "big freeze" The damage to
the trees cannot be accurately esti-
mated until another year, but doubt
less this damage has been exaggerat-
ed. The damage to the fruit crop,
however, is unQuestioned and was al
most total. The oranges which were
not seriously damaged were in some
especially favored location, or were
protected by orchard heaters, or the
oranges were promptly picked and
placed in cold storage after freezing.
Thus again cold storage has demon,
strated it's value in protecting perish
able goods, and thus again we would
call attention to the fact that it is not
SO much the freezing which hurts as
it is the exposure to high temperature
afterwards. It has been demonstrated
in California that oranges frozen sol
i'd, if they are rather promptly picked,
packed and placed in cold storage, that
their quality is not badly damaged or
deteriorated, and many thousands OF
dollars have been saved in this way by
utilizing cold storage plants for the
protecting of the fruit from high tenn
peratures after having been frozen.
Oranges will not, Of course. keep as
long after freezing as they would If
not frozen, but their life is prolonged
at least a month or six weeks, which
is long enough to get them to market.
OF course, these favorable results may
only be had with oranges which are
quite fully matured and have juice and
sugar qualities quite fully developed.
Immature fruit which has been frozen
is without value. In very few cases.
if any, were the oranges placed in
cold storage before thawing, but good
results seem to have been secured by
getting the oranges into storage rath-
er promptly, as this prevents them
from drying out and losing juice and
flavor. Had the oranges been placed
in cold storage before they thawed to
any considerable extent much better
and more improved results could have
been secured.
The withdrawal Of frost from orang-
es by putting them into cold storage
or storing to protect from high tenn
perature after freezing, is but a new
application of. . very old scheme. It
isAmellsknn~fsrnat frost-bitten urtros
zen toes, fingers, noses, cheeks or
ears may be saved from serious harm
by rubbing with snow until the. frost
Is out. This simply means that the
frozen part is kept cold until the frost
is taken out by the natural circula-
ton Of the blood. Putting oranges in
cold storage after they have been fro
zen does the same thing. It protects
them from heat until they are thawed
slowly and naturally, thereby avoiding
the breaking down of the fiber or cell
structure of the fruit.
Those who have the handling OF
perishable goods which have been fro.
zen should remember that the greater
part Of the damage comes from ex.
posure to a high temperature after
freezing, and therefore, instead Ct
rushing the frozen goods into a warm
temperature they should be kept at a
low temperature and the frost slowly
drawn out. It is well known that ap-
pies may be frozen as hard as rocks,
and It not moved or handled while
frozen, the frost may be gradually
drawn out without greatly damaging
the quality Of the apples. What Is true
Of apples and oranges is also true
Of other fruits and perishable goods
Of other kinds as we'll. A knowledge
Of this fact and a recollection of 1t
at right time may save great loss
Michigan Tradesman.