210 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 180. 



The figures of the table show that the closely graded berries kept con- 

 siderably better than the ungraded ones, there being nearly 22 per cent, 

 more rot among the latter at the close of the test. The cup-counts were 

 taken with the inspectors' cup of the New England Cranberry Sales Com- 

 pany. 



(b) Two lots of Howes berries were obtained for this series of tests by 

 dividing boxes of fruit, just as they had been stored when they came from 

 the bog on October 7, into equal parts by alternate dippings with a quart 

 measure. They were put through a Hayden separator, with the upper set 

 of bounce-boards set at the middle notch, on December 26. A board five- 

 eighths of an inch thick was kept in the grader frame in place of the grader 

 while the second lot was run through. The grader took out about a quarter 

 of the quantity of berries separated while it was in use. Only the berries 

 that went into the barrels from the separator were used. They were poured 

 from the barrels into boxes and were taken into the warm screening room 

 a box at a time, so that they might undergo a high temperature no longer 

 than necessary during the screening. Both lots were carefully screened at 

 the same time on December 29, the berries being run into picking crates 

 placed close to the mouths of the screens. They were carefully shaken 

 down and stored in these crates at once. The arrangement and results of 

 these tests are shown by Table 15. 



It will be seen that after a winter storage of nearly ten weeks almost 32 

 per cent, more berries showed rot among the ungraded fruit than among 

 that which had been closely graded. At no time during the test did the 

 temperature of the storage room range more than 8° above the freezing 

 point of water, and for considerable periods it ran more or less below it. 

 The cup-counts given in the table were taken, as in the first series of tests, 

 with the Sales Company's cup. 



While it cannot safely be said that the results of these tests prove that 

 grading improves the keeping of cranberries, they bring out a point of 

 much importance. Closely graded berries, being larger and more uniform 

 in size, are much more desirable in appearance than ungraded ones. If 

 they also keep better, the advisability of preparing them for market in this 

 way as a means of inducing greater consumption is much confirmed. If 

 close grading were generally practiced it could be made a powerful factor 

 in properly controlling the cranberry market, for, while it tended strongly 

 to increase consumption on one hand, it would in a sense cut down 

 production on the other. In the writer's opinion it would be the best possi- 

 ble means for dealing with overproduction, for if any part of a crop had to 

 be throwTi away it would be only the berries of inferior size or qua]it3\ 



The results of these grading tests are entirely in line with last year's 

 findings of the writer, in the study of ventilation as affecting cranberry 

 keeping, and with those brought out by Dr. Shear and his collaborators 

 in their paper published as a part of this bulletin. The small berries as 

 well as the leaves, conclusive experiments with which are described above 

 (No. 7, page 206), might be expected to check ventilation, not only by 



