which we have conducted at Cornell. These tests are by no means exhaustive, but 

 I feel they are indicative. 



Flesh Firmness 



Flesh firmness is certainly one measure of quality which everyone employs. 

 To be sure, small differences in pressure tester readings mean nothing to the 

 layman, but I think most people prefer a reasonably hard Mcintosh to a soft one. 



We have worked with Mcintosh, Cortland, Delicious, and Golden Delicious to 

 determine whether or not bagging has any effect on flesh firmness. The treatments 

 included one and two weeks of continuous exposure to 70°F.; two weeks of alternat- 

 ing temperatures of 70° during the daytime and 32° at night; and two weeks at 32°F 

 followed by two days of 70° and twelve days at 80°F. In only three of the fourteen 

 tests were there differences in excess of one-half pounds difference in flesh firm- 

 ness* Differences in incidence of water core of Delicious accounted for two of 

 these three cases. 



Our tests indicate that bagging has no significant effect on flesh firmness . 



Skin Shrivel 



Thirteen separate tests were carried out with Mcintosh, Cortland, Delicious, 

 and Golden Delicious apples to determine the effect of bagging on water loss and 

 subsequent skin shrivel. The differences in weight loss varied from five times 

 as much water lost from Golden Delicious in bulk as compared to comparable apples 

 in poly bags at 70°F to differences of only one and one-half times as much water 

 lost from bulk Delicious apples as compared to bagged Delicious apples stored at 

 alternating temperatures at 32° and 70°F. 



In every case , the bagged fruit lost less weight than the bulk stored fruit . 

 Whether or not this skin shrivel retarding effect will benefit your apples depends 

 upon how long and at what temperature your apples are kept in bags. 



Decay 



Decay of bagged apples is a real threat and a detriment to quality. One 

 rotten apple in one bag will hurt the appearance of a bagged apple display. Almost 

 every rotten apple I have found in polyethylene bags has been innoculated at a 

 skin puncture. Our studies indicate that punctured fruit will show a higher 

 incidence of decay in poly bags than in bulk displays at 70°F. 



It is well to remember that fruit with stem punctures and other unhealed 

 cuts are culls . 



Scald 



Some apple handlers have expressed the opinion that bagging increases the 

 incidence of storage scald. We have carried out three separate tests with Rhode 

 Island Greening in bulk and bag displays to determine the effect of bagging on 

 the appearance of scald. Our tests show that bagging in polyethylene has no 

 significant effect on the appearance of scald. 



