Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-10-17
Apple Growers Strongly Ad-
Vised To Use Cold Storage

it is feared, in many thousands OF
barrels of good apples rotting in the
orchard or being disposed Of at prices
which figure net loss to the grower.
The following are the directions
given by the apple handling special
lists of the department for using cold
storage successfully in handling ap-
pies:
The proper function of cold storage
is to retard the ripening processes
of the fruit and the development of
decay organisms and skin blemishes.
The first responsibility for the keep
ing quality of his fruit rests with the
grower since it is his growing and
handling methods that largely deter
mine its vitality, freedom from dis
ease, and general condition when
stored. Cold storage is not a remedy,
or a restorative for poorly developed,
weak, imperfect fruit, but it is the
most effective method of preserving
possessed by the fruit at time of
picking.
The first step in successful cold
storage of apples has been found to
lie in the practice of such cultural,
spraying and pruning methods as inv
sure production of sound, healthy,
well colored fruit, free from disease.
Assuming this as the first requisite,
the following factors have been found
to most influence the keeping quality
Of the fruit, and furnish best condi-
tions for long storage:
/. Proper maturity at time of
picking.
2. Care in all handling operations.
3. Prompt storage after picking.
a. A proper storage temperature.
Maturity Tests.
Careful and extensive investiga-
tions have demonstrated that fruit
picked at full maturity can be held
for a longer period in storage, and
is less affected by scald and decay
than that picked when somewhat i'm
mature. Two important commercial
varieties. Rome Beauty and Winesap,
have been found to be especially sus
ceptible to scald during storage, if
picked prematurely. There is no
doubt that several thousand dollars
are lost to the industry each year
through the improper picking of
these two varieties alone. The results
emphasize strongly that more care
and attention should be paid to this
detail Of the harvesting operations
than is usually the case.
BY full maturity, however, is not
meant over-maturity, which may
cause fully as heavy losses as i'm
maturity. Each grower should study
his own fruit and his own conditions
in order to determine the proper pick
ing stage. Probably the most reli-
able single indication of maturity is
the whitening or slight following Of
the ground color" of the fruit. This
is the color underlying the blush or
red color and should not be confused
with the latter.
Careful Handling.
Care in all handling operations is
the second important requisite of
successful storage. A class of fungi,
of which the common blue mold is an
example, are known to be unable to
attack and cause decay of healthy,
uninjured fruit. In spite of this fact,
very serious rots both in storage and
in transit to market are the work of
fungi of this type, and the largest
contributory cause in all cases is
bruising or skin breaking suffered by
the fruit in the picking and packing
operations. Microscopic bruises and
breaks in the skin are large enough
to afford entrance to the spores of
these fungi and the necessity for the
utmost care in all operations con-
nected with the handling of the fruit
to avoid bruising and mechanical in
juries is more urgent than most
growers realize.
Prompt Storage.
There is a marked difference in
condition between fruit stored
promptly after picking, say not more
than two days later, and otherwise
comparable lots Of which the storage
is delayed ten days or two weeks.
Such delay is especially injurious
~ nsHAM a M0Hro,