214 Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xvi, No. s 



The amount of scald was reduced by delayed storage in all of the 

 different experiments, with but one exception. This exception was 

 with apples held in a tight-headed barrel in a protected place for 1 2 days. 

 Apples held in boxes for 6 days and then repacked were practically free 

 from scald, and apples delayed in open boxes or in barrels for 12 to 14 

 days developed less scald than those stored immediately. The results 

 indicate that the effect of delayed storage upon apple scald will depend 

 largely upon the amount of ventilation the apples receive during the 

 delay. The original maturity of the apples would probably also have a 

 modifying influence. The writers wish to be distinctly understood as 

 making no general recommendation in favor of delayed storage. The 

 temperature experiments already reported show the great importance 

 of immediate cooling as a means of scald prevention, and this is the 

 phase of the subject that should receive the greatest emphasis. They 

 are convinced, however, that with any apples lacking the full degree 

 of color and maturity that might be most desirable (this would in- 

 clude a large part of the average eastern crop) scald may be reduced 

 by a few days' delay in open well-aired packages before the fruit is placed 

 in commercial cold storage, and that if during this delay the fruit can 

 be kept as cool as 5° C. (41° F.) or even 10° C. (50° F.) Uttle or no increase 

 in rot will result from it. They consider that the results that have been 

 obtained from the various apple-scald experiments furnish strong evi- 

 dence of the value of air-cooled storage houses as a supplement to com- 

 mercial cold-storage plants. 



EFFECT OF GAS ABSORBENTS UPON APPLE-SCALD 



The results of the foregoing experiments made it evident that apple- 

 scald is not produced by high humidity nor by an accumulation of 

 carbon dioxid, and yet that it is due to something that can be carried 

 away by air currents and possibly partially taken up by absorbents, 

 such as calcium chlorid. In a previous article the writers * reported 

 experiments in which scald was reduced from 65 per cent to 10 per cent on 

 York Imperial and Arkansas apples in commercial cold storage by adding 

 excelsior to the usual barrel pack. Powell and Fulton ^ reported that 

 paraffin wrappers reduced the amount of scald on apples, but that ordinary 

 wrappers did not. The trend of the evidence in these experiments and 

 the results already reported in the present paper led to the testing of 

 various gas-absorbing substances. The results are given in Table XIII. 



With the apples whose surfaces were only partially covered with wax 

 scald did not occur beneath the coating; yet there was no close correlation 

 between wax and scald patterns. The wax materials having the greatest 

 absorbing powers apparently prevented scald on other parts of the apple, 

 as well as on those with which they were actually in contact. There 

 was nothing unusual in the taste of the apples under any of the conditions. 

 In general the quality varied inversely with the amount of apple-scald. 



• Brooks, Charles, and Cooley. J. S. effect op temperature, aeration, and humidity on Jona- 

 than SPOT AND SCALD OF APPLES IN STORAGE. In Jour. Agr. Research, v. ii, no. 7, p. 287-318, 23 fig., pi. 

 32-33. 1917. Literature cited, p. 316-317. 



2 Powell, G. H., and Pulton, S. H. the apple in cold storage. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. Plant Indus. 

 Bui. 48, 66 p., 6 pi. (part col.). 1903. 



