BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 349 



32° F. At 37° F. a rather large percentage of the fruit developed 

 decay at the core, especially during the hitter part of the storage sea- 

 son. This trouble would offset any benefit to be obtained in avoiding 

 the browninor at 37° F. The browning increased rapidly in intensity 

 after the fruit was withdrawn from storage. Commercial storage 

 houses holding their rooms this season at a temperature near 35° F., 

 as a result of the Bureau investigations, report far less trouble than 

 they had formerly when using a temperature of 32° F. 



The work will be continued during the coming season, in order 

 to obtain corroborative data and to make a more careful study of 

 the effect of handling. A temperature held uniformly at 34° to 

 35° F. appears to be the best for the Pajaro Valley fruit, and a 

 complete investigation of the effect of this temperature will be 

 made. Fruit from the other apple districts of California will also 

 be included. 



Precooling or Georgia peaches and California grapes. — The 

 precooling work on Georgia peaches begun by Mr. G. Harold 

 Powell in 1904 was continued. The portable experimental refriger- 

 ating plant of the Bureau was used in Georgia during the season. 

 Fifteen carloads of fruit precooled at Fort Valley were forwarded to 

 New York along with a number of nonprecooled carloads for com- 

 parison. In each car marked crates were placed both on the top 

 and bottom tiers. Careful inspections, including determinations of 

 decay, were made on the day the fruit arrived and after holding two 

 days under open-market conditions. The results of this work show 

 a marked effect upon the condition of the fruit upon arrival and 

 after holding. The precooled fruit averaged G per cent of decay on 

 the top tier and 5 per cent on the bottom tier, while the nonpre- 

 cooled fruit averaged 17 per cent of decay on the top and 7.3 p?r 

 cent on the bottom tier. After holding two daj's, the precooled fruit 

 averaged 34.3 per cent of decay on the tof) and 24 per cent on 

 the bottom, while the averages of decay for the nonprecooled 

 fruit were 45.G per cent and 31 per cent on the top and bot- 

 tom tiers, respectively. The lessening of the differences between 

 the top and bottom tiers when the fruit is precooled is consistent 

 and in line with the results obtained with other fruits. The results 

 of this work are especially gratifying in view of the fact that it was 

 not possible to operate the plant to best advantage. The water 

 supply was somewhat deficient, and it was therefore impracticable 

 to cool to as low a degree as would be desirable under commercial 

 conditions. 



Whether precooling in cars after loading is advisable or whether 

 a system of cooling in refrigerated rooms before loading is preferable 

 is still an open question. It is planned to continue the work in 

 Georgia next season, with special reference to these points, and also 

 to study closely the relation of careful handling to decay in transit. 



At Lodi, Cal., eleven cars of grapes were precooled in connection 

 with the handling and shipping investigations in August and Sep- 

 tember, 190!). The temperature of the fruit in these cars was re- 

 duced an average of 20° F. in about eight hours, by forcing G.OOO 

 cubic fejet of air at a temperature ranging from 34° to 35° F. through 

 the cars each minute. The results of this work are indeterminate, and 

 further necessary work along this line is planned for the coming 

 season. 



