INFLUENCE OF CAREFUL HANDLING ON KEEPING QUALITY. 19 



of two to four day.s throut^hout the oxporiment. After tin interval of 

 sixteen days the jars were opened and the fruit eompared with that 

 stored in the exposed boxes. 



The fruit held in oxygen had a j^ood color and flavor, but had 

 softened so as to be entirely unmarketable. It was free from black 

 mold. The fruit held in o[)en boxes had a good color, but a bad flavor, 

 and it was badly molded. It was unmarketable. The dillerence 

 between the two lots was al)out that wdiich occurs when the fruit is 

 stored for the same length of time in open and closed jiackages. No 

 effect due primarily to the oxygen gas was apparent. 



For the raspberry test, Kansas blackcaps were used. The fruit was 

 in tirst-class condition, dry and firm, when stored. Several boxes 

 were left under the usual storage conditions, several were kept in a 

 bell jar in confined air, and several were kept in a bell jar in oxygen, 

 the gas being frequently renewed. After an interval of thirty-nine 

 days the fruit was examined. The berries in the open boxes had sunk 

 down so that they filled the boxes not more than half full. They had 

 molded badly. The fruit confined inair in thel)ell jarwasingood physi- 

 cal condition. The berries were dry and free from mold. The flavor, 

 however, was insipid. The fruit kept in oxygen was also in good 

 physical condition. The berries w^ere dry and free from mold, l)ut the 

 flavor was quite insipid. No efl'ect attributa])le to the presence of 

 oxygen was brought out. As in the case of the strawberries, the bet- 

 ter condition of the inclosed fruit over that of the exposed fruit was 

 due apparently to the influence of the close receptacle. 



THE INFLUENCE ON THE KEEPING QUALITY OF CAREFUL HAND- 

 LING AND OF STORING SMALL FRUITS SOON AFTER PICKING. 



The most serious troubles with small fruits in cold storage are the 

 quick loss in flavor when they are stored in impure air, the softening 

 of the fruit from overripeness, and the molding or decay, especially 

 of raspberries, strawberries, blackl)erries, dewberries, and currants. 

 The mold usually appears a few days after the fruit is stored. It is a 

 fungus called Botrytis vulgaru^ commonly known as black mold. 

 Molded berries are shown in Plate I, 2>, and in Plate III. It is 

 especially serious in small fruits that have been handled roughly 

 and that are not stored soon after picking, k. berry picked in a dry, 

 sound, firm condition is not often attacked by the black mold. 

 Overripe berries and berries with the surface bruised nearly always 

 mold. The mold gains entrance through the bruised or weakened 

 parts of the fruit, creeping over the berries in the form of a cotton-like 

 covering or mycelium. It grows luxuriantly in warm temperatures 

 and slowly in the coldest temperatures in which the fruit can be stored 

 safely without freezing. It is most troublesome on raspberries. 



108 



