22 CIRCULAR NO. 114, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



abrasion of the skin. Partial physiological decay is a term used to 

 designate a darkening or browning at the core of the pear and could 

 be determined only by breaking or cutting each individual fruit. All 

 fruits recorded as showing this trouble were usually firm and of good 

 eating quality. Complete physiological decay includes all fruits 

 which were completely discolored, soft, and worthless. 



At the first inspection, made when the fruit was withdrawn from 

 the refrigerator car, all lots were practically as green as when they 

 were placed in storage and showed no deterioration of any kind. 



At the time of the second inspection, made on the sixth day after 

 withdrawal from the car, some of the lots were even then so green 

 that they were hardly in good eating condition, but nearly all were 

 in prime fruit-stand condition. The third inspection was made on 

 the ninth day after withdrawal from the car. 



Analysis of the data from the second inspection shows that most 

 of the deterioration, especially shriveling, fungous decay, partial 

 physiological decay, and brown stain, occurred in the first pick. The 

 second inspection of the immediately cooled lots of the fourth with- 

 drawal from the third and fourth pick in no case showed even 1 per 

 cent of any of the troubles described after the fruit had been held 

 five days under market conditions. The delayed lots showed very 

 little more. The third inspection of the fourth withdrawal, imme- 

 diately cooled, third and fourth picks, showed the fruit to be prac- 

 tically sound, with the exception of 5.9 per cent and 18.3 per cent of 

 partial physiological decay in the third and fourth picks, respec- 

 tively. In the third withdrawal, second inspection of the first pick, 

 there was 7.2 per cent of shriveling in the immediately cooled and 22.7 

 per cent in the delayed lots; while at the same inspection the imme- 

 diately cooled fourth pick showed 0.2 per cent and the delayed per 

 cent, respectively. Practically all of the brown stain recorded (some- 

 times as much as 18 per cent) occurred in the first pick, with only 

 a trace in the second and none at all in the third and fourth. The 

 highest percentages of fungous decay (9.7 per cent in the immediately 

 cooled and 15.2 per cent in the delayed, third inspection, third with- 

 drawal) occurred in the first pick. Some was found in the second, 

 but there was practically none in the third and fourth. The highest 

 percentages of complete physiological decay found in each of the 

 delayed lots of the third and fourth withdrawals, third inspection of 

 the fourth pick, were 11. 2 per cent and 12.8 per cent. 



Temperature conditions during the time of holding in the ware- 

 house apparently affected the percentage of partial physiological 

 decay found in the second and third inspections of all lots. In the 

 third withdrawal from the third pick, immediately cooled, third in- 

 spection, there was 70.6 per cent of partial physiological decay and 

 but 5.9 per cent in the third inspection, immediately cooled, fourth 



[Cir. 114] 



