166 



ment of Agriculture on oranges have shown that while fruit 

 carefully picked and packed gave only 2 per cent of decay 

 at the end of three weeks after arrival, that taken from the 

 ordinary commercial picking and packing showed • 16 per 

 cent. 



2. The second important factor is delay in getting the' 

 fruit into storage. This factor applies especially to fruit 

 which is to go into refrigerated storage. As before suggested, 

 the life processes are accelerated as soon as the fruit is 

 picked if it remains at an ordinary temperature. It ought, 

 therefore, to be hustled into the coldest storage available. 

 If " frost-proof " storage is used the temperature ought to 

 be brought down as rapidly as possible in the autumn, so as 

 to be ready for the apples as they are picked. Of course 

 this damage from delay is more serious when the autumn 

 is warm. Powell states that Rhode Island Greenings, Kings 

 and Suttons, picked September 15 and stored within three 

 days, kept in good condition till March, while the same vari- 

 eties handled in the same way, but not put in storage for two 

 weeks, were badly decayed by January 1. Their commercial 

 value was injured from 40 to 70 per cent by the delay. 



3. Fungous diseases stand third among the factors in- 

 fluencing the keeping of apples. The most serious of these 

 are the molds and apple scab which develop very rapidly 

 under favorable temperature conditions. Molds cannot gain 

 entrance to sound fruit and scab can, of course, be controlled 

 by spraying. But we all know that it frequently isnt^ so that 

 these fungous troubles become a serious menace when either 

 the conditions of the fruit or the storage are not good. 



4. Maturity of the fruit when picked. There is no ques- 

 tion but that this exercises a very decided influence on the 

 keeping of apples but just what degree of maturity is best 

 has not yet been determined. There is a very general im- 

 pression that the longer apples are to be kept the greener 

 they ought to be when picked, but this is certainly a mis- 

 take. As nearly as one can give a general rule, it is probably 

 safe to say that apples will keep longest if picked when they 

 are fully matured and well colored, but while they are still 



