-h 



Table 1, Mechanical damage to Mcintosh apples In cartons holding twelve 3 pound 

 bags vertically in a. single layer in comparison to damage occurring on 

 apples in cartons with four 3 pound bags laid horizontally in each of 

 three layers. Cartons dropped 3 times from a height of 12 inches. 



*Trial 1; 4 cartons per treatment, 



''Trial 2; 6 cartons per treatment, 



*^Trial 3; 5 cartons per treatment, 



*^Trial 4; 5 cartons per treatment, 

 10.8 pounds. 



Average fruit size 2.93. Flesh firmness - 10.6 pounds. 



Average fruit size 2.84. Flesh firmness - 10.9 pounds, 



Average fruit size 2.65. Flesh firmness - 10.9 pounds. 



All fruit between 2.60-2.70 inches. Flesh firmness 



The bag placement had no consistent influence on the number of 1 inch bruises and 

 the number of apples with stem punctures. 



The apples used in trial 3 were sized prior to bagging so that each bag 

 contained a similar number of various size fruit. The sizes ranged from 2.30- 

 3.00 inches and averaged about 2.65 inches. The fruit used in trial 4 were from 

 the same let of composited apples as in trial 3 but were of uniform size (2.60- 

 2.70 inches in diameter). The data in Table 1 show that with the exception of 

 1 inch bruises for the horizontal bag placement the amount of mechanical damage 

 to the uniform sized fruit did not differ from that on random sized fruit. 



More Bruising in Bottom of Cartons 



The apples in the bottom of the cartons are subject to severe bruising from 

 the impact of dropping. This is particularly noticeable with the horizontal bag 

 placement since most of the serious damage occurs on the apples in the bottom 

 layer of bags. The data obtained in Trial 1 is used as an illustration of this 

 point (Table 2). 



