408 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



WORMY PEARS ARE CONDEMNED IN SACRAMENTO 



COUNTY. 



By Fred C. Brosius, Deputy County Horticultural Commissioner, Sacramento. Cal. 



The season of 1917 will always be remembered in Sacramento County for its 

 enormous yield of pears and also the great amount of codling moth worms. The 

 exact cause of this uncommonly large infestation may never be known, as the 

 worms appeared in unusual numbers in many orchards where the several sprayings 

 were carefully done, while in orchards where indifferent or no spraying was done, 

 as high as 90 per cent of the pears were infested at picking time. 



About 85 per cent of the entire pear crop from 5,100 acres in this county is 

 shipped by boats to the Sacramento dock, and there transferred into refrigerator 

 cars for Eastern shipment. It is on this dock that most of the fruit inspection 

 is carried on. 



About the twenty-third of July the inspectors noticed that the amount of infested 

 or wormy pears, per packed box. began to increase in many of the growers' packs, 

 and as soon as possible these growers were visited and warned to sort the pears 

 before packing. However, by July 29, the infestation per box was so great that 

 it became necessary in several cases to condemn the entire lot and require that 

 it be sorted and repacked on the dock before sale or shipment. This caused the 

 shipping companies much inconvenience and the growers considerable additional 

 expense, but it was thought that only in this way the growers could be brought to 

 realize the true condition of their pack. The number of pears in from one to four 

 boxes in each shipment was counted. 



At the close of this article is a memorandum showing the percentage of infestation 

 of each box counted, together with the number of boxes of each shipment condemned. 

 Letters are used to designate shipments instead of the growers' names, each ship- 

 ment by the same grower being designated by the same letter. It will be seen that 

 some growers cleaned their pack after the first condemnation, while one grower had 

 four different shipments condemned, and ceased shipping wormy fruit only when 

 threatened with arrest. 



No pears were condemned after August 10, for many growers, realizing the 

 futility of getting the pears passed by our inspectors, either ceased packing entirely 

 or sent their entire shipment to the canneries. 



No arrests were made this season for several reasons, greatest of which was the 

 incompetent labor used both during the spraying season and at harvest time. 



It is our intention in the future to endeavor to allow not over 3 per cent infesta- 

 tion in any packed box of pears. However, there is one reprehensible practice which 

 must be discontinued. This is the dumping of these wormy fruits into the local 

 and San Francisco markets. The results of this practice are certainly bad for the 

 careful grower, who sprays well and puts up a good pack, free from worms, but 

 not quite good enough for Eastern shipment, and it is considerably worse for the 

 consumer who expects to buy wholesome fruit, but, unknowingly, obtains an addi- 

 tional bargain in worms. 



One fruit-shipping company, after sorting and repacking, and against the remon- 

 strances of myself, shipped 52 lug boxes of these wormy pears to San Francisco. 

 It can be imagined in what condition these arrived, heing 100 per cent wormy. 

 Fortunately, the San Francisco Board of Health condemned this particular ship- 

 ment. To illustrate the feeling of the commission men in this matter I quote here- 

 with a letter from a dealer in San Francisco to State Horticultural Commissioner 

 G. H. Hecke, as follows : 



"San Francisco, August 9, 1917. 

 "As far as we are concerned you can depend on it that we will gladly 

 cooperate with either your office direct or with any office or officer in an 

 effort to properly carry out the letter and spirit of the law referred to. 

 (Standard Apple Act.) 



"There is only one point that I regret, and that is that the law doesn't 



include other fruits besides apples. A mistake was made when pears and other 



fruits were not included, although there may be a law on the books at present 



that covers pears. If so, would you be kind enough to give me some reference. 



"My reason for asking this is that the market is blocked at the present time 



