REDUCING HARVEST BRUISES ON McIUTOSH APPLES 



In 1920 a group of fruit growers designated as the "Ten Year Program Committee" 

 proposed practices for the betterment of the fruit industry. One of the proposals 

 was as follows. "Pick carefully. Rough handling is responsible for many a poor 

 apple that the consumer gets," 



To what extent are apples being picked carefully today? 



In an attempt to ansxver this question a study was made of harvesting 

 practices in twenty Mcintosh orchards during the 1957 harvesting season. 



In each orchard, x^herevcr possible, a fifty apple sample from two boxes 

 harvested by each of five pickers was obtained. This made a random sample of 

 five hundred apples from each orchard. In a few orchards the harvesting pro- 

 cedure was such that the sample had to be obtained regardless of who picked it. 



Each apple in a sample was examined for bruises and skin punctures. 



The apples were classified with respect to mechanical injuries as those 

 having: (1) few small bruises, (2) many small bruises, (3) 1/2" to 3/4" bruises, 

 (4) 3/4" to 1" bruises, (5) bruises 1" and over, (6) skin punctures. 



With one exception this study v^as made in orchards with a total production 

 of all varieties ranging from 14,000 to 40,000 bushels. 



In the majority of the orchards a metal picking bucket with canvas bottom 

 was used. Splint baskets, peach baskets, metal pails and canvas picking bags 

 were the containers used in other orchards. 



In fifty percent of the orchards pickers were paid on the piecework basis, in 

 forty percent on the hourly basis and in ten percent both systems were used. The 

 range in pay on the piecework basis was 18 to 25 cents per bushel. The range on 

 the hourly basis was $1.00 to $1.25. 



In orchards where pickers were paid on a piecev/ork basis 14.4 percent of the 

 apples harvested had one or more 1/2" bruise while in orchards where pickers were 

 paid on the hourly basis 4.5 percent of the apples had one or more 1/2" bruise. 

 This suggests rather conclusively that the piecework basis of pay is more conducive 

 to bruising than the hourly basis. 



A range of 60 to 75 bushels picked per eight hour day per man was considered 

 a satisfactory day's work by the majority of growers. One grower does not allow 

 any picker to pick more than eighty bushels in a day when paid on a piecework 

 basis. 



The cost per bushel at $1.25 per hour is less, even when only fifty bushels 

 per day per man is picked, than the average cost when picked by piecework. 



Obviously the harvesting procedure v/as adapted to each particular orchard and 

 no two methods were identical- 



Three methods employed by growers whose apples had a minimum amount of 

 bruising are described briefly as follov;s: 



