Cold Storage Locker Plants Groning Industry Offers New Business jor Lumber Dealers

What are cold storage locker plants-where and why are they built? And what does this revolutionary movement mean to the Lumber Dealer?

Historically, the cold storage of food products is nothing new. Huge commercial cold storage warehouses have operated in cities for years, the main purpose being to hold products for top market prices. Mechanical refrigerators and ice-boxes have been used for years in homes, restaurants and markets for the temporary storage of food prodtucts. However these should not be confused with the new colcl storage locker plant process which has developed rvithin the past three to five years for they do not serve the same purpose or produce the same results.

The cold storage locker plant is for the purpose of storing and preserving fresh fruits, vegetables and meats by the cluick freezing method. This process is said not only to retain all the natural flavor and quality but in addition goes one step further and improves the quality. This means that people in all walks of life. the farmer, the city folk can enjoy fresh juicy fruit, vegetables and meat the year arouncl rcgardless of the season. The cold storage locker means tlrat corn on the cob, 'ivatermelon and other tempting foods can be had in fresh-like form anytime during the year. No longer is it necessary to go to the expense and clrudgery of canning with consequent loss of quality and flavor naturally occurring in many canning processes.

The cold storage locker plant may be likened to the safety deposit vault of a bank. It provides 300 to 600 lockers or compartments usually 17 inches high, 20 inches wide and 30 inches deep, made of metal ancl provided ivith a sirong lock. The lockers, arranged in sections, are located irr a cold storage room where the temperature is atttomatically regulated at l0 to 12 degrees F. E,ach locker holds 250-300 pounds of fruit and meat.

For a family of five, a cold storage locker is reported to save $75 to $l0O a year, thereby cutting the cost of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat in half.

The usual procedure is to rent a locker for $10 a year. For this fee the lessee is allowed to store as much food as the locker will hold. Processing or service charges average about $1.75 for slaughtering a medium rveight beef and $1.50 each for hogs, sheep or lambs. For chilling, cutting, rvrapping and freezing, from three-fourths cent to one and one-half cent per pound is chargecl rvith three cents for cnring hams and bacon.

The moder.n locker plant is usually divicled into seven main sections-(1) chill or pre-cooling room, (2) aging or ripening room, (3) cutting and processing roour, (4) sliarplreeze room, (5) locker room, (6) machirre room, and (7) :r srnall office and reception room. A1l, except the ctttting room, machine room, office and reception room are heavily insulated and provided with regttlar refrigerator doors.

In the chill room, n.reat is chillecl dorvn thoroughly. It is provided u'ith overheacl hand rails ancl hooks, lvater connections and drairls, arrd is kept at a temperature of 34 degrees F. to 38 degrees F. After the meat is chilled dorvn for 12 to 18 hours it is then brought into the aging room. Here pork carcasses are aged for one to five days while it takes fat beef several r,r.'eeks before it is rea<ly for cutting. In the cutting room the carcasses are cut ancl processed according to locker renter's rvishes; that is, roasts, chops, steaks, etc., ancl then rvrappecl. Each package is labelecl rh e sh crp tt e e z e,,,""^ olil?." ?,l:t ?: "1" :'"T tT,.?:,:o."'f tiL".'" solidly belore sloring in the individuql lockers. Tempercture is usuclly held qt zero degree F. to l0 degrees F. below zero. as to its coutents. stamped rvith the locker retrter's nrrmller and then sent to the "sharp freezer."

It is this trext step irr the cold storage process that is responsible in a large nreastlre for the rapicl gros,th of this ncrr' inclustr_r'. Science has shon'n that quicklv freezing the

On Eastern Trip

,\. li. Fickling, Fickling Lurnlter Companr., Long Beach, anrl \[rs. Fickling. left recentl_v for Nen' York via the Panarna Canal. Mr. tr'ickling 1,i11 pick up a new Ilrrick whilc in the Iiast ancl the return trip tc-r Califorrria n.ill l.lc marie bv autornobile.

food suspends bacterial and enzymic action, preserves meat and produce in their original state. The "sharp freeze', room is usually held at zero degree F. to l0 degrees F. below zero. After being solidly frozen, the food is ther-r sent to the locker room and stored under lock and key.

It is estimated that there are now over 2,50O locker plants in operation in 2l states, .ivhcih represent investments arnounting to $15,000,000 to $20,0@,000, of which 30 to 35 per cent is required for insulation. Such a development involves 850,000 lockers holding in all some 300,000,000 pounds of fresh meat and produce.

One of the projects that has attracted wide attention among lumber dealers is the model locker plant at Des Moines, Iowa, which is insulated throughout with palco Wool, a California Redwood rproduct. According to relrorts in Ice and Refrigeration, a magazine for the cold storage trade, this insulation is said to be one of the most c.fficient of the accepted types of insulation, having a therrnzrl conductivity of .255 B.t.u. and under most severe tests of vibration showing no settling rvhatever.

This rapidly growing industry that only five years ago startecl in the Middle West ancl Washington has reached C--alifornia and it is reported that there are twelve such plants now under construction in Southern California.

Sucl-r phenomenal grorvth can mean only one thing to '.he n'i<1e-arvake clealer-new business. Nerv business in the construction of the Iocker plant ancl nteeting its large requirerrents for efificient insulation. Construction of plants irr tou'ns, large'arrd small, are drarving the attention of tl-re prrl>lic to benefits of a good insulation they can also use for their orvn home insulation. Thus the adr,ent of cold storage locker plants makes it easier for the lumlter dealer to sell irrsulation to the home owner.

Creating an extended nse of fresh fruit arrd vegetables, tl.re locker plants r.vill prove a boon to California agriculture ;Lncl in turn benefit the lumber dealer r.r'ith increased building activity in the community.

HI-JTNKS DECEMBER 16

Lumbermen's Post, No. 403, American Legion, a [Ii-Jinks at the Cafe De Paree, Los Angeles, holcl evenirrg of December 16, 1938. A fine entertainment program is being arranged by the Co,mmittee an<l announcements n'ill be sent out at an early clate. 7th Floor. Alaska-Commercial Bldg.,

Americen Mill Co.