82 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 402 



Table 5. — Results of Incubator Tests at East Wareham, Mass., Oct. 1-7 

 Temperature 25° C. (77° F.) 



In an endeavor to determine the most satisfactory conditions for such incubator 

 tests, those made after September 15 were varied from year to year as to both 

 dates and temperatures. They are, therefore, usually not strictly comparable. 

 Table 5, however, gives the results of certain tests made the first week in October, 

 1926 and 1928-1935, which are comparable as to variety, bog, and temperature. 



From this experience with incubator tests in the Cape Cod area, the following 

 conclusions seem to be justified: 



In general, under Cape Cod conditions, such an incubator test serves to 

 pick out the weak lots of cranberries with a high degree of accuracy. 



The nearer to time of shipment a lot can be tested, the more trustworthy 

 are the results of the test; conversely, an incubator test made early in the 

 season gives relatively little indication of conditions later. 



A wider divergence between lots is usually apparent later in the season 

 than early in September. 



Incubation for one week seems to give as satisfactory results as a longer 

 period, such as ten days or two weeks. 



The temperature of the incubator should be lowered as the season 

 advances to correspond somewhat with storage temperatures and especially' 

 to make allowance for the difference in the temperature relations of the 

 fungi which characteristically develop at that period. (See page 69, 

 under heading "The Storage Period for the Different Varieties.") 



In determining keeping quality of the crop for a single bog or a single 

 storage lot, the incubator test is apparently very useful. In attempting to 

 forecast the crop for an entire region, it constitutes a valuable check on 

 weather data. 



These keeping tests have taken on an added significance with the growth of 

 the preserving industry. It is obviously to the advantage of all for the cranberries 

 which go into cans to be those which, while of very high quality at the time, are 

 least fit for the handling and shipping they must undergo to reach the fresh 

 fruit market. 



