CHAPTER IX.

RETARDING CELLARS AND HOUSES.

Cold Storage in Modified Form, Without Ice--Ventilated Storage and Packing Houses for Fruit and other Produce.

It is well known that cellars which are dry, cool and well ventilated are of great service in preserving fruit and vegetables. In Sicily, where oranges have long been produced in great quantities, they are kept in cool caves, which are numerous among the mountains of that island. Its volcanic origin no doubt has particularly favored their formation, and the porous nature of the rock insures ventilation combined with a dry cool air.

CAVES FOR STORAGE.--There is much of the natural phenomena of caves which is interesting, and definite determination of their philosophy would be of value. There are caves in which ice is formed during the hottest weather, and in which it disappears during the winter.

Shafts sunk in mining have exhibited the same peculiarity. The even temperature and dryness of the air in many caves is remarkable. While the facts are yet to be determined scientifically regarding these natural formations, some of their characteristics may be secured by artificially constructed cellars.

STORAGE CELLARS WITHOUT ICE have been in use for years, with profit and convenience to their owners. A convenient place is to locate them in the side of a slight hill, as shown in Fig. 89. A cross section is shown in Fig. 90. An excavation the width of the cellar is made, the earth being thrown up against the outside of the stone wall, which is built on the lower hillside. The opposite wall is formed by the cut face of the hill. The rear end is constructed in the same manner as the lower hillside. The front wall and doors are made of a double thickness of boards, with six inches inclosed space filled with sawdust.

The doors swing inward, and are large enough to admit a single horsecart. The sides and rear end are lined with inch boards. The side walls are four feet high in the clear. To form the roof, boards are cut of a length which will raise the center seven feet above the floor and give easy passage for a horse.

Midway between the center and either wall a 2 × 4 post is set upon a footing of brick, and above it under the roof boards a 1 × 4 strip is run the length of the cellar. On top of the first roof boards a layer of straw is placed, which will be a foot in thickness when pressed down.

On top of this straw a second set of roof boards is placed, covered with another layer of straw; on top is now placed a tight cover of matched boards, and two thicknesses of tarred paper over the whole. Battens are placed over the joints in the matched boards to hold down the tarred paper and prevent any water passing through. The outer edges of the roof are set firmly against the ground at the top of the walls.

On the upper hillside tiling should be placed, or other draining to carry off the surface water. A porous, gravelly side should be selected whenever available. In the front two windows are placed and one large one at the rear, double sashes being fitted during the coldest weather.

THE CHEAPNESS AND CAPACITY OF SUCH A CELLAR.--For a cellar one hundred feet deep the estimated cost is $100, no skilled labor being required. Rough lumber is used except for the last roof boards. Large storage room is provided in such a cellar, fifty thousand celery plants have been accommodated in one; hundreds of bushels of vegetables, apples and other fruits have been held in it during the fall and winter.

A COLD PACKING HOUSE.--On large fruit farms a building designed to properly care for the fruit during shipping and packing, and as a store house for temporary use, is desirable. The illustrations below (Figs. 91 and 92) are taken from a ventilated fruit house with insulated walls, which has operated very successfully in Ontario County, N. Y. A perspective view is shown in Fig. 91. The main building is 24 × 36 feet, built into a slight hill. The basement is built with stone walls eighteen inches thick, extending two feet below the surface and rising six feet above it.

The floor is made of eight inches of clean coarse gravel, with a coat of hydraulic cement grouted in a finishing coat on top, thus making a dry, hard floor.

The basement is divided into convenient apartments. The entrance is from the front and north sides, the floor being almost level with the outside surface. Both the doors and windows are double, the latter being provided with screens to keep out insects when open for ventilation. This basement is ceiled with inch boards, on top of which, between the joists, is placed an inch and one-half of mortar.

The upper building is fourteen feet to the eaves, the main story being eight feet in the clear. The studding is five inches wide, and on the outside are two thicknesses of damp-proof paper, over which weather boards are placed. On the inside of the studding are two layers of paper, then a two-inch wide studding on which the paper is again doubled; over this comes matched inch lumber, making two dead air spaces to insure against the changes of outside temperature affecting that on the inside.

The ceiling of this room is formed by putting one thickness of paper on the joists, covered with matched lumber. The floor is of matched two-inch plank, thus making dead air spaces between the cellars and the upper room, and also rendering it impervious to rats and mice. (Fig. 92.)

This floor is occupied by an office and stairway in one end, and these leave a clear floor space of 24 × 24 feet, for storing and packing purposes. Shelves, thirty-two inches deep, are placed all around the wall of this room, and are capable of holding about seven tons of grapes or other fruits, leaving the center for such as are in barrels.

From the east side of this room a door opens into the raised portion of the shed. Through this door the fruit can be unloaded from the wagon without any lifting. This shed runs the whole length of the building and is sixteen feet wide, with a ground floor. It is ample to accommodate packing, also several loads of fruit over night or through a shower.

The top story is eight feet high in the center. The floor is one-inch matched stuff, laid on paper. The sides and ceiling are lathed and plastered. It makes a cool room, pleasant to work in or to store grapes and other fruits in baskets, as the veranda on the west side has a flat roof with a door opening on it, which renders it very convenient for loading or unloading. The veranda is six feet wide on the two sides.

A galvanized iron ventilating tube, two feet in diameter, runs from the fruit to above the roof, to carry off the heated air. Other ventilating doors should be close to the floor and left open at night, thus making a cool draft all night through the fruit room. The doors are to be closed air-tight early in the morning; the room above can be ventilated through the shaft all day, drawing off the heat from the roof.

Pure air and plenty of it being required in a house of this description, its location should be well chosen. The prevailing winds and surrounding buildings or other features can be noticed in selecting a site.

IN REMOVING FRUIT from storage room, it is always desirable to let the temperature gradually rise to that of the external atmosphere. Otherwise the fruit, being removed at once from a cool room, being cooler than the external atmosphere, condenses moisture on its surface which, unless removed, may cause decay after the fruit is packed for shipment or sale.