ANNUAL REPORT, 1941 49 



Problems of Rural Youth in Massachusetts. (David Rozman, Gilbert Mel- 

 tlrum, Ruth E. Sherburne.) This study was undertaken during the past year 

 in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture to determine 

 and analyze the most important problems of rural youth in Massachusetts. 

 Nearly 600 schedules were obtained in selected towns in four counties, including 

 young people, both in school and out of school, ranging in age from 16 to 25. 

 For 40 percent of the boys the main problem had to do with finding a job, making 

 a living, or getting started in farming. For one-fourth of the girls the major prob- 

 lems were also economic. Of the problems mentioned by both boys and girls, 

 25 percent concerned education and vocational guidance. 



The results of this study have been analyzed and presented as E.xperiment 

 Station Bulletin 386. 



DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING 

 C. I. Gunness in Charge 



Cranberry Storage Investigation. (C. I. Gunness, H. J. Franklin, and C. R. 

 Fellers.) The storage of Earh Black cranberries in a modified atmosphere was 

 continued during the 1941 season. All the berries were picked and stored on 

 September 8 and removed from storage and screened on November 14. Three 

 lots of berries were stored at 35 degrees and three lots at 45 degrees. One lot 

 at each temperature was kept in normal atmosphere, one lot in an atmosphere 

 containing 5 percent ca"rbon dioxide and 2 percent oxygen, and one lot in an 

 atmosphere containing 10 percent carbon dioxide and 10 percent oxygen. The 

 berries stored in modified atmospheres were kept in sealed sheet iron cabinets 

 having a capacitN' of 2 barrels each. Means were provided for removal of excess 

 carbon dioxide by circulating the air from the cabinets through a solution of 

 sodium-hydroxide. Excess moisture was removed from the cabinets by circulat- 

 ing the air through calcium chloride. 



Apparently this process was ineffective as the berries were covered with mois- 

 ture when the cabinets were opened at the end of the test. 



Berries stored in normal air at 35 degrees and 45 degrees showed the usual 

 differences in storage loss which have been observed in former years. Those 

 stored at 35 degrees showed a storage loss of 4.7 percent, while those at 45 degrees 

 showed a loss of 11.6 percent. All the berries stored in the modified atmospheres 

 showed greater losses than those stored in normal air. It is not known, however, 

 whether this increased loss was due to the composition of the atmosphere or to the 

 excessive moisture in the cabinets. The experiment will have to be repeated 

 next year with more efficient equipment for removing excess moisture from the 

 cabinets. 



Berries stored in normal air developed very much better color at 45 degrees 

 than at 35 degrees. Berries stored in modified atmospheres on the other hand, 

 developed no better color at 45 degrees than at 35 degrees; and berries stored in 

 modified atmospheres at 35 degrees were not as well colored as those kept in 

 normal air at 35 degrees. 



Apple Storage Investigation. (C. I. Gunness in cooperation with Department 

 of Pomology.) A small room for the storage of apples in a modified atmosphere 

 was prepared during the summer of 1940 and filled with Mcintosh apples that 

 fall. The room had a small leak and it was not possible to reduce the oxygen 

 content to the desired 2 percent. Considerable variation in temperature in- 

 creased air circulation through the leak, and it was not possible to reduce the 



