1 91 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



Picking and Packing of Cherries and Prunes 



THE importance ol' careful picking 

 and handling in preventing decay 

 in such fruits as cherries and pi'unes is 

 brought out in Department Bulletin 331, 

 which contains a report of experiments 

 conducted with these fruits in the Wil- 

 lamette Valley, Oregon. Hitherto it has 

 not usually been found profitable to 

 ship fresh cherries and prunes from 

 this region to distant markets because 

 of the unsatisfactory condition in 

 which the products arrive. These in- 

 vestigations demonstrate that a great 

 part of the decay can be prevented by 

 the exercise of proper care, but that 

 unless care is exercised there is little 

 hope of disposing of the fresh cherry 

 and prune crop of this region in distant 

 markets. The facts brought out in the 

 investigation are believed to be appli- 

 cable also to other sections of the 

 country. 



The losses which shippers of cherries 

 and prunes experience are due chielly 

 to brown rot and to other fungi which 

 gain entrance through abrasions in the 

 skin, or other injuries to the fruit. The 

 brown rot must be controlled by proper 

 orchard practice. On the other hand, 

 the loss from those forms of fungi 

 which do not attack healthy, sound 

 fruit can be minimized by careful 

 handling. 



In order to demonstrate this fact the 

 investigators stored various lots of 

 carefully han(lle<l fruit and of commer- 

 cially handled fruit for varying periods 

 in a refrigerator car, in which the con- 

 ditions were niatle as nearly as possible 

 identical with those under which the 

 fruit would travel in actual commer- 

 cial practice. At the end of five days, 

 in the iced car, the carefully handled 

 fruit showed an average of only 0.5 per 

 cent decav, while the commerciallv 



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handled frnit showed 2.8 per cent of 

 decay, or practically six times the 

 amount. .\t the end of ten tlays the 

 carefully handled fruit had 1.5 per cent 

 of decay and the commercially handled 

 lots 12.3 per cent, or eight times as 

 much. Ten days is approximate^' the 

 time required to ship fiuit from the 

 Willamette Valley to Chicago. 



Similar results were obtained from 

 experiments with prunes, although 

 with them the i)ercentage of decay for 

 both connnercially handled and care- 

 fully handled fruit was smaller than 

 with cherries. It is pointed out, how- 

 ever, that although every efTort was 

 made to have the conditions approxi- 

 mate those in actual transportation, it 

 is probable that the fruit kept better 

 in the iced car used for these tests than 

 it would in the ordinary refrigerator 

 car in transit. 



Experiments were also conducted 

 both with carefully handled and com- 

 mercially handled fruit to determine 

 the value of precooling before placing 

 the fruit in the refrigerator car. These 

 tests show that precooling is undoubt- 

 edly of value. On the other hand, it 

 cannot be relied upon to prevent losses 

 due to careless handling. Injured fruit 

 will decay whether it is precooled or 

 not, and for this reason precooling is 

 not recommended unless it is pre- 

 ceded by adefjuate care in picking and 

 packing. 



It is also pointed out that any delay 

 between the picking and the shipping 

 of fruit hastens decay. The amount of 

 damage done in this way will vary, of 

 course, with the weather conditions, 

 but under any circumstances it is con- 

 siderable. 



In view of these facts, it is recom- 

 mended that every precaution should 

 be taken in picking the fruit not to 

 bruise it, and that it should be trans- 

 ferred as few times as possible from 

 one container into another. While it 

 is being held in the orchard after pick- 

 ing it should be kept in the shade, and 

 the hauling wagon should be iirovided 

 with good springs and covered with 

 canvas in order to keep off sun and 

 dirt. In grading, all damaged fruit 

 should be culled out, and as soon as the 

 shipment has been packed it should be 

 placed in the refrigerator car. 



The extra expense of careful han- 

 dling, it is said, will be more than offset 

 by the reduction of losses from decay 

 and the ability of the fruit to maintain 

 itself in good condition while exposed 



Page II 



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Pacific Coast Representatives 



The Berger & Carter Co. 



17th and Mississippi Sts., San Francisco, Cal. 



for sale. If these suggestions are 

 adopted generally by fruitgrowers and 

 in consequence a larger jiroportion of 

 the crop marketed fresh, it is believed 

 that the industry will benelit greatly 

 and its extension will be made profit- 

 able. That this fact is being recognized 

 by fruitgrowers is indicated by the co- 

 operation aflorded the ilepartnient in 

 its investigation by the growers in the 

 Willamette Valley. 



To Apple Growers and Shippers 



Wl" liavi.' rcoi-ntiy comiileted ;> Hre-'ncot' warchnu.-ii- aiul cold stoiaKi- plain, tiiai is 

 up-to-the-minute in facilities and efficiency. 



Built of reinfoi-ced concrete and biick. equipped with the Henry VoKt ab.sorption 

 sy.stem of refi iKeration. with cold .storage capacity available foi' public storage of 

 approximately 75 car-s. . 



We have double trackage inside the building, enabling the spotting of six cars at one 

 time at our unloading doors. , , , 



We offer perfect storage, low insurance, no drayage or .swllching charges, and aulc^i 

 service to all that territory east and south served by the C. M. & St. P.. I. C, C. R. I. 

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Storage in tran.sit rates in effect via all roads. , , , o .■ 



We would be i>leased to hear fi-om shippers who contemplate serving trade in South- 

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We can name favorable storage rates. We will h.- in a position to handle cars 



" " ' " ' " ' ■ ' "' HALEY-NEELEY COMPANY, Sioux Falls, S.D. 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISLRS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



