Safe Storage For Apples And Pears

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 109, 10 May 1941, Page 7 (Supplement)

Safe Storage For Apples And Pears

Now that most of the apples and pears are harvested, and Aucklanders are being invited to purchase freely by the case to cope with the glut of fruit, the householder is faced with the question of providing suitable storage, so that the midseason and late-keeping varieties may be preserved in first-rate condition through their normal season. You cannot hope to keep apples and pears long past their natural season for use. Many people come to grief over this. They try and keep April apples until June—and then find they have gone bad. An apple that is normally "in season" in April must be used in April; a pear "in season" in May must be used before the end of May—they will not keep longer in good condition, however good the fruit store. Whether the fruit is to be kept for only a few weeks or for two or three months, the great thing is to find for them a store place where a fairly even temperature can be maintained, where frosts will be kept out, and the fruit will be in partial or complete darkness. The kitchen cupboard is much too warm and dry. A cool cellar or shed is a good place; bear in mind that extreme dryness or warmth almost certainly leads to premature shrivelling and pronounced loss of flavour and quality. Another point to remember is that fruit of any kind soon becomes tainted if stored near stronglyscented vegetables or in a bad atmosphere. There is nothing to beat an earth floor for the store place; that provides just the right amount of moisture in the air, without being too damp or fusty. • Where possible, set out the fruit on airy trays or slatted shelves. Alternatively, the fruit can be packed two or three layers deep in wooden boxes, stacked one on top of the other. Whatever the storage plans, however, one big help, especially when conditions are by no means ideal, is to wrap each apple or pear separately in a piece of specially prepared tissue paper. These wrapping papers are not expensive, and it will be found that the wrapping makes an astonishing difference and overcomes most deficiencies in storage facilities. See that only perfectly sound, wholesome fruits go into the store; bruised, blemished specimens won't keep, and will only contaminate' all the others.