FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. 69 



Just as these various markets prefer certain varieties, so do these 

 varieties prefer certain seasons. It is folly to place the Ben Davis on 

 the market in the fall. Keep it until May and dispose of it then. The 

 Baldwin sells best during or shortly after December while the Twenty 

 Ounce and the Wealthy should be disposed of before Christmas. The 

 Mcintosh is an ideal Christmas apple, bringing its highest price then, 

 while the Rhode Island Greening reaches its highest price during Janu- 

 ary and February. 



There is a time and a place for every variety. You need no one to 

 tell you further, then, that there are increased dividends awaiting the 

 man who sends his fruit to the right market at the proper seasonable 

 time. 



WHY FRUITS SHOULD BE PRECOOLED. 



J. R. NOTEWARE^ BELLAIRE, 



The term precooling has been applied to the rapid and prompt cooling 

 of fruit or other produce before it is shipped or stored. To the grower 

 and shipper it is important as a means of extending the market area of 

 a product by assuring its delivery in sound condition over long distances. 

 Ice and salt or mechanical refrigeration are usually employed as the 

 cooling agents and the object is to reduce the temperature of the fruit, 

 as quickly as possible, to a point where ripening will be retarded, and 

 decay and deterioration prevented. 



During the maturing of a normal fruit, certain chemical and physio- 

 logical processes are taking place within the fruit, which results in the 

 ac(iuirement of flavor and quality ; this constituting the ripening process. 

 After a certain point is reached the fruit becomes over-ripe, quality and 

 flavor are lost and deterioration progresses until eventually the fruit is 

 destroyed by fungous decay or fermentation or through destructive 

 physiological changes. When the fruit is picked the ripening period is 

 Iiastened and greatly shortened if the fruit is alloAved to remain warm 

 for any'length of time. Hence the importance of reducing tlie tempera- 

 ture of the fruit as rapidly as possible after it is picked. 



Aside from the breaking down from over-ripeness, fruits are subject to 

 premature decay, due to the attacks of fungi. The most common of these, 

 however, have not the power to penetrate the unbroken skin of healthy, 

 normal fruit but injuries to fruit from rough handling provides an en- 

 trance for spores of fungi and decay occurs very rapidly if they are sub- 

 jected to ordinary- temperature for any length of time. The germination 

 of the decay spores does not take place while the fruit is perfectly dry 

 or the temperature low. After the spores have germinated, however, and 

 decay has started within the fruit, even as low a temperature as thirty- 

 two degrees Fahrenheit will not check it. Growth of the mold is only 

 retarded and decay continues slowly to develop. Prompt and rapid 

 reduction of the temperature of the fruit below the point where the de- 

 cay spores will germinate, prevents the development of the disease and 

 fruits that have been rendered extremely susceptible, through some me- 

 chanical injury, can be transported with only slight loss from decay. 



