194 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 180. 



groups were conducted in the basement of the station screenhouse, this 

 having a floor and walls of concrete and providing fairlj'- even temperatures. 



A Friez hygro-thermograph provided by the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 and kept in the storage room during most of the period when the tests 

 were in progress gave the following temperature and humidity records: — 



Between September 29 and October 1 the temperature fell from 77° F. 

 to 60° F. Between October 1 and October 5 it ranged between 61° and 

 54°. As the mainspring of the hj^gro -thermograph clock broke on October 

 5 the records were discontinued until October 25. Beginning on that 

 date the ranges in temperature by weeks were as follows: October 25 to 

 November 1, from 57° to 53°; November 1 to November 8, from 53° to 

 47°; November 8 to November 15, from 51° to 44°; November 15 to 

 November 22, from 47° to 38°; November 22 to November 29, from 51° 

 to 38°; November 29 to December 6, from 51° to 43°; December 6 to 

 December 13, from 49° to 40°; December 13 to December 20, from 42° 

 to 29°; December 20 to December 24, from 41° to 34°. 



Between September 29 and October 5 the relative humidity ranged from 

 95 to 59 per cent., and was subject to much influence from frequent open- 

 ing of the storage room. Beginning with October 25 the ranges in relative 

 humidity by weeks were as follows: October 25 to November 1, from 85 

 to 72 per cent.; November 1 to November 8, from 85 to 69 per cent.; 

 November 8 to November 15, from 85 to 60 per cent.; November 15 to 

 November 22, from 73 to 60 per cent.; November 22 to November 29, 

 from 86 to 53 per cent.; November 29 to December 6, from 75 to 46 per 

 cent.; December 6 to December 13, from 71 to 50 per cent.; December 

 13 to December 20, from 72 to 53 per cent.; December 20 to December 

 24, from 79 to 55 per cent. 



The storage room was kept tightly closed from October 25 to December 

 24, except as the making of observations made entrance necessary. In 

 spite of this, the fluctuations in relative humidity were marked and rapid, 

 it evidently being influenced much more by outside weather conditions 

 than by the stored berries. 



The storage tests conducted fall conveniently into groups, as follows : — 



1. Weight Shrinkage of Sound Cranberries in Storage is due largely, if not 

 entirely, to Losses Incidental to the Process of Respiration, not to Loss of 

 Water by Evaporation. — To determine this. Professor Morse weighed and 

 analyzed different lots of Howes berries, obtained from the same source, 

 on various dates and with results as shown in Table 5. Professor Morse 

 provides the following data concerning this work: — 



The cranberries were received at the chemical laboratory the first week in De- 

 cember. 



On December 8, eight approximately equal lots of carefully selected sound berries 

 were weighed into glass jars. The mouths of the jars were covered with a thin 

 filter paper held in place by rubber bands, and they were inverted in a slat-bottomed 

 box and placed in a cool closet, the temperature of which ranged between 35° and 

 60° F. 



