STORAGE OF FRUIT.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 120, 11 February 1926, Page 3

STORAGE OF FRUIT.

USE DURING THE WINTER.

The Need for Ventilation

The storage of fruit for winter use is a subject of wide interest, concerning' alike the large fruit-grower and the domestic head of the household (says the British Ministry of Agriculture, in an article issued to the press;. Many varieties are not sufficiently ripe to eat when picked, and need to be stored before they .arc lit for use or sale. Commercial growers store their fruit also in times of glutted markets, or when they believe that higher prices will be got later in the season. The small grower who grows for himself, stores his fruit because he wishes to make his little supply last the longer, and the housewife who can buy cheaply stores against the winter-time, when fruit will be dear. Many of these folk have no propcrly-contructed fruit store available for their purpose, and they use an outhouse, a cellar, or an attic; and good or bad storage may result according to the chance of their choice. In choosing a place for a store and in packing for storage it is often forgotten that fruit are to be likened to living, breathing organisms, and that loading has been overcome by the inunless conditions agreeable to continued life are present they will decay. Another point is that some varieties of fruit become ripe so quickly after picking that little can be done by way of storage to keep them, except it be cold storage. These are such varieties as Beauty of Bath, Mr Gladstone, Worcester Pearman, Early Victoria, Stirling Castle and the Coddling varieties. On the other hand, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Rival, Barnack Beauty, Sturmer Pippin, Lane’s Prince Albert, Newton Wonder, Brainlcy’s Seedling and Annie Elizabeth take several weeks i ftcr being picked to become ripe, and consequently store well. It is, then, necessary to make quite sure that fruit for ordinary storage is of the keeping kinds. It must also be healthy, or diseases may develop in or after storage which will cause serious loss. Preparing Fruit for Store. The preparation of fruit for successful storage ought to start during the growing season. At the beginning of it, and later if necessary, the trees should be sprayed against insect . and fungoid pests. The justification for this is that many experiments have shown that apples gathered from .trees which have been efficiently sprayed are capable of being kept in storage with a much smaller percentaggc of loss than are apples from trees which have been left unsprayed. The apple that will keep best in store is the one that is full grown, hard when picked, is unbruised and unblemished and has the stem adhering. Othe’’ apples start at a disadvantage and may not keep. The conditions most likely to result in successful storage apart from good growing are a moist atmosphere in the store, which should not be allowed to become stagnant; plenty of ventilation in the store to begin with, say, for the first three weeks, which should afterwards be reduced; and an even cool temperature, and partial darkness. A cellar provided with ventilation satisfies most of these con-

ditions and is. much more suitable as an apple store than an attic where the atmosphere is inclined to be too dry, and the temperature so uneven, that the, fruit never assumes a stable resting condition but shrivels and deterioates. Outhouses can often be made into good stores fulfilling these conditions. Where there is an old chalk or gravel pit or a disused lime kiln, or where part of the store can be built underground, it should be tried and will usually be found successful. A building above ground should be thatched and the walls covered with good straw, reed, bracken or heather, or sonic other non-conductor of heat. It is not absolutely necessary to fit up the inside of a store-house with fixed shelves. These are convenient, of course, but they often, in time, become impregnated with any fungs spores there may be about, and so may ultimately prove a disadvantage to good storage. The best results are obtained if each apple is wrapped in clean white tissue or, preferably, in oiled paper, and then packed in apple boxes. The boxes can be stacked in piles in the store, though it is advisable to leave a little space for ventilation between each box. Storing Pears. As to pears, the unripe late pear is usually hard, dry, almost without flavour and very poor to eat; but in the process of ripening the flesh becomes soft and melting, the juice plentiful, sweet and delicately flavoured. The storage conditions must be just right or the fruit will not ripen properly. Each pear should be wrapped separately in tissue paper and spread out in single layers in shallow boxes. Periodic inspection is imperative beenuse of the importance of knowing exactly when the fruit has reached a nearly ripe condition. It should then be taken into a room of warmer temperature so that the final changes taking place within the fruit may develop the full flavour characteristics of the variety. Pears ripen and pass to the sleepy condition so quickly that the observer must be ever on the watch if the best results are to be obtained. Pears which keep well i nstorage are Conference,

I)oye line du Cornice, Glou Moreeau, Roosevelt and Winter Nelis. With the use of artificially-cooled chambers even, a variety such as William Bon Chretien can be marketed in good condition fully six -weeks later than its normal period.