46 University of California Publications in Agricultural Sciences [Vol.3 



hours), this shoot lost water more rapidly than the shoot with fruit 

 detached. These relations are very clearly shown in figure 1. The 

 normal water loss curve is illustrated in figure 2. 



Experiment 4 — A forked twig bearing a small terminal fruit on 

 each branch was selected and cut. The fruits were immediately im- 

 mersed in water and the shoot tied to a support in such a fashion 

 that all the leaves were exposed to the air, the fruits alone being 

 immersed. One orange was now removed by cutting it under water 

 and all cut surfaces were sealed. The two fruits remained under 



50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 



Fig. 2. Showing the general type of water loss curve of a shoot detached 

 from the tree, including detached orange. Ordinates represent water loss in 

 per cent and abscissae, the time elapsed in hours. 



water. The container and support were then placed on a bench in 

 the shade in the open air and left for fifteen hours, at the end of 

 which time moisture determinations were made on the fruits. 



TABLE 4 



Moisture Determinations After Fifteen Hours 



Weight of Weight of Weight of Water con- 

 container and s;mii> when material in tent per 

 Kind of material fresh material dry in grams cent 



in grams grams 



Detached orange 24.680 21.435 3.330 206.9 



Attached orange 23.210 21.773 2.570 126.8 



