BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 83 



FRUIT STORAGE. 



The work on fruit storage, which has been in charge of Mr. G. Harold 

 Powell, assistant ijomologist, was mainlj" limited to pears and winter 

 apples. The problems to which particular attention was directed were 

 the cold-storage requirements of the Kieffer pear and the control of 

 "scald" in a number of commercial varieties of winter apples. 



With the Kieffer pear an effort was made to determine by compara- 

 tive tests the proper stage of ripeness for picking, the method of hand- 

 ling necessarj^ the most suitable temperature for storage, and the 

 relative durabilit}^ of wraj^ped and unwrapped fruit under different 

 conditions. While the results of a single season can not be taken as 

 final, it has been demonstrated that a delay of ten daj^s in storing 

 after the fruit is picked and packed is sufficient to account for its 

 rapid deterioration in storage within thirty days thereafter at any prac- 

 ticable temperature, while fruit from the same trees stored immediately 

 after picking in the same temperature was held in perfectly sound 

 condition for a period of five months. There have been numerous 

 heavy losses by growers and dealers in this and former years, which 

 in the light of these investigations were easily preventable through 

 proper handling of the fruit. 



Through carefully conducted duplicate storage experiments, made 

 with commercial varieties of apples at Washington, D. C, Buffalo, 

 N. Y., Champaign, 111., and Kansas Citj^, Mo., using fruit from Vir- 

 ginia, New York, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas, certain 

 important facts have been discovered in regard to methods of control- 

 ling or retarding the "scald" which frequently does serious injury to 

 commercial apples otherwise valuable. It has been found that by 

 delaying the picking and packing of the fruit until it is well colored 

 and rij)ened, and storing at a temperature of 32° to 33° in the storage 

 houses, the development of the "scald" can be retarded for several 

 weeks or months longer than by the early picking generally recom- 

 mended. During this time the fruit thus handled is in perfect condi- 

 tion for sale and consumption. In the case of some such important 

 commercial varieties, as Rhode Island, Winesap, and York Imf)erial, 

 the percentage of " scald " was reduced from 25 to flU per cent by certain 

 methods of picking and storing which did not involve any material 

 increase in the cost of handling the fruit either in the orchard or stor- 

 age house. Work along this line will be repeated and will be extended 

 to other commercial regions and varieties as rapidly as the funds 

 available permit, as it is considered of immediate and practical 

 value to orchardists. A clear understanding of the principles 

 involved is likely to largeh^ increase the net proceeds of the winter 

 apple crop, and at the same time to afford the consumer a more whole- 

 some product. 



Comprehensive varietal tests to determine the relative storage value 

 of the newer varieties of apples have also been conducted both with 

 fruit obtained from individual growers and with that furnished by 

 the experiment stations of Maine, New York, Virginia, and Kansas, 

 which have actively cooperated with the Department in the work. 



VITICULTURAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



The viticultural investigations which were begun in 1899 have now 

 reached a stage where they are developing rapidly, and promise to be 

 of distinct benefit to a large section of the country. Mr. George C. 

 Husmann, expert in viticulture, is in charge of these. 



