STORAGE OF APPLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 255, 27 October 1928, Page 10

STORAGE OF APPLES.

EXPERIMENTS IN AUCKLAND. ELIMINATION OF LOSSES. CONSISTENT RESUI/TS OBTAINED. For the past two years extensive experiments in connection with the cool storage of apples have been in progress in Auckland, the results of which now appear to have eliminated the main causes of losses among this class of cooi stored fruit. * The experiments have been instituted by Mr. R. Waters, formerly officer in charge of the biological laboratory, but now lecturer in bacteriology to the Massey College, Palmerston North. Mr. Waters, who is at present on a visit to Auckland, has just completed a count of the apples he had picked.in Hawke's Bay and stored in Auckland under various conditions.

~ ® feature of the experiment was that the apples in each case were as nearly alike as it was possible to get them. Eveiy apple was numbered and the number indicated not only the tree from which it was picked, but also its exact position in the case. Moreover, every case was made up exactly to correspond with the others, both in the trees from which the apples were taken as well as in the manner in which they were arranged in the case. In this way over 100 comparable cases of fruit had been picked. Some had been placed in various cool stores throughout the Dominion, others in cool store conditions and others again shipped to England among cargoes of New Zealand exported fruit. The count so far indicated that it was possible by this method to secure uniform cases, to make satisfactory comparisons between one case and another in a way that has not been possible in the past. Mr. Waters stated that certain cases held for six months under special controlled conditions had shown consistently 100 per cent of sound fruit, the maturity and general appearance of which far excelled fruit held under orWnary conditions. Controlled cases Mid under other conditions had already developed from 2ft per cent to 30 per wL? c internal and, v the ro P ,e > *»d each mUT* wr* found to rive most consistent results, p