Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



Syracuse, N. Y. . . . 5 



Stanton, N. D 1 



Stearnvillc, Wash. 1 



Stockton, Cal 3 



Texarkana, Tex... 4 

 Toppenish, Wash. 6 

 Tacoma, Wash. . . . 13 

 Toronto, Canada.. 19 

 Trinidad, Col. ... 5 



Tulsa, Okla 16 



Topeka, Kan 2 



Tyler, Wash 1 



The Dalles, Oregon 18 



Tyler, Tex 8 



Toledo, Ohio 1 



Trair, la 1 



Terry, Mont 1 



Toledo, Ohio 1 



Twin Falls, Idaho 1 

 Turtle Lake, N. D. 3 

 Twin Bridges, Mt. 1 



Tiffin, Ohio 1 



Trenton, N. J 2 



Taft, Mont 1 



Tremonton, Can. . . 2 



Terry, Mont 1 



Thief River Falls. 1 



Three Forks, Mont. 1 



Tyler, Minn 1 



Tucson, Ariz 1 



Thompkins, Can. . 1 



Temple, Ariz 2 



Terrell, Tex 1 



Townsend, Mont. . 1 



Utlca, N. Y 2 



Vancouver, Can... 10 



Vermillion, S. D. . . 1 



Vein, Okla 1 



Valley City, N. D.. 3 



Vetrain, Canada.. 1 



Vancouver, Wash. 10 



Volga, S. D 1 



Watertown, S. D.. 2 



Warm Sp'gs, Mont. 1 



Waterloo, la 1 



Wellsvllle, N. Y... 1 



Wichita, Kan 1 



Weiser, Idaho .... 1 



Wahpeton, N. D. . 



Wallula, Wash 



Whiteflsh, Mont.. . 



Winnipeg, Canada. 



Wilson, K. Y 



Waldram, Kan. . . . 



Weatherford, Tex. 



W. Somerset, N. Y. 



Wevburn, Canada. 



Whitewater, Wis. . 



Wolcott, N. D 



Whitethorst, Can.. 



Wallace, N. D 



Wahoo, Neb 



Wamego, Kan. . . . 



White River Sp'gs . 



Wchlen 



Winfleld, La 



Willmar, Minn.. . . 



Wolfpoint, Mont. . 



Winfleld, Kan 



Wynne, Ark 



Total number of 

 Total number of 



Cold Storage of Apples in Pacific Northwest 



More Satisfactory Keeping of Fruit Discussed by 



THAT the responsibility for the keep- 

 ing qualities of Northwestern apples 

 must be shared practically equally be- 

 tween growers and handling organiza- 

 tions on the one hand, and cold storage 

 warehousemen on the other, is the con- 

 clusion reached by specialists of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture as a result of investigations to 

 determine the factors of greatest im- 

 portance in successful storage of the 

 fruit. 



The investigations disclosed that if 

 the fruit is to be stored most satisfac- 



Specialists of U. S. Department of Agriculture 



torily, and is to be got into the hands 

 of the consumer in excellent condition, 

 the grower's part should be, first, to 

 produce the healthiest possible fruit, 

 sound, well colored and free from decay 

 or skin blemish; and second, to have it 

 carefully harvested at just the proper 

 degree of maturity. The handler's part 

 should be to so handle the fruit in har- 

 vesting, hauling, grading and packing 

 that it will not be bruised, scratched or 

 injured. Growers, shippers and ware- 

 housemen should co-operate to get the 

 fruit into cold storage as soon as pos- 



December 



sible after it is harvested. The ware- 

 housemen should then hold the fruit at 

 as low a temperature as possible with- 

 out subjecting it to the danger of freez- 

 ing and should carefully watch it so 

 that it may be disposed of while in good 

 condition. 



The factors making for successful 

 storage are discussed in detail in De- 

 partment Bulletin No. 587, "Storage of 

 Apples in the Pacific Northwest," re- 

 cently published by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



It was found in the investigations, 

 in regard to the factor of health and 

 soundness, that apples from orchards 

 badly infected with Northwestern an- 

 thracnose are likely to decay early in 

 their storage life, and that well colored 

 portions of the skins of apples seldom 

 if ever develop scald. These facts indi- 

 cate the desirability of proper care of 

 the orchards, including spraying and 

 pruning. Keeping the trees open by 

 pruning will admit the sunlight more 

 freely and so facilitate coloring. The 

 fact that scald develops generally on 

 uncolored portions of the apple empha- 

 sizes the importance of allowing fruit 

 to develop high color before it is picked 

 for storage. Only gross negligence on 

 the part of the shipper or warehouse- 

 man can nullify the effect of good color 

 and sanitary orchard practices, the 

 specialists point out. On the other 

 hand, if fruit is poorly grown or dis- 

 eased, the utmost care on the part of 

 the warehouseman cannot prevent the 

 development of storage troubles. 



Apples were stored under similar 

 conditions when picked immature, ma- 

 ture and overmature. In all cases the 

 apples picked at maturity kept best. 

 The best degree of maturity, it was 

 found, was somewhat short of eating 

 ripeness. 



The importance of keeping the skins 

 of apples unbroken was demonstrated. 

 Every bruise and scratch furnishes a 

 possible point of entrance for fungous 

 organisms causing decay. 



The promptness with which the fruit 

 is stored and cooled after it is picked 

 is the most important single factor in 

 retarding natural decay, it was found. 

 The more or less common practice of 

 permitting the fruit to remain out of 

 storage for several days in the orchard 

 or packing house may shorten its cold 

 storage life considerably, especially if 

 the weather is warm. In the experi- 

 ments, apples stored immediately kept 

 in good condition in storage one month 

 longer than apples held two weeks in 

 packing houses before storage. 



In the temperature experiments, some 

 apples were held at 31 to 32 degrees F., 

 and others at 35 to 36 degrees F. In all 

 these experiments the fruit held at 32 

 degrees was in better condition and 

 could be held through a longer storage 

 period than that held at the higher tem- 

 perature. The practical effect of the 

 higher temperature was the same as 

 that of delay before storage. The life 

 activities of the fruit advanced with 

 greater rapidity than that stored at 32 

 degrees, and all fruit taken out of stor- 

 age from time to time was found to be 

 duller, yellower and riper than that 

 held at 32 degrees. Thirty-two degrees 



