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color and storage quality of 'Cox's Orange Pippin' apples were con- 

 ducted by J.E. Jackson, R.O. Sharpies and J.W. Palmer, East Mailing 

 Research Center, Kent, England and reported in Vol. 46 (No. 3) of 

 the Journal of Horticultural Saience. 



The studies showed that apples from the inside of the trees 

 differed from those borne on the outside and similar differences 

 were obtained by artificially shading parts or the entire tree. 

 Fruits harvested from the tree periphery were larger and better 

 colored but were more susceptible to bitter pit and rot due to 

 Gloeosporium spp. and to soft rot fungi. However, these fruit 

 were less susceptible to shrivel and core flush than fruits from 

 the more shaded parts of the tree. 



The effects of in-tree position on their storage behavior in 

 relation to fruit size and mineral composition also were studied. 

 Fruits from 2 trees growing in an east-west hedgerow that were 

 well exposed to the south were separated according to whether they 

 were harvested on the north side (segment) or south side (segment) 

 of the trees or whether they were picked with (upper segment) or 

 without a ladder (lower segment). Size of the fruit reached from 

 the ground was larger from the south side than the north side of 

 the trees. Fruit size did not differ between the north and south 

 upper segments of the trees, however. Fruit from the upper segments 

 and larger fruit from within each segment of the tree had more red 

 col or . 



After storage, a relationship between size and bitter pit only 

 was evident on fruits from the upper segments of the trees; the 

 incidence of pit was greater on the larger fruits. Although not 

 severa Gloeosporium rot was more frequent on larger fruits and more 

 severe in the upper segments of the trees. 



Severity of shrivelling differed little among the tree segments 

 but the disorder was more severe on smaller than on larger fruits. 



Concentration of nitrogen was higher in smaller fruit than lar- 

 ger fruit from a similar segment of the tree. Calcium contents and 

 the ratios of calcium (Ca): potassium (K) were lower in the larger 

 fruits within each tree segment and in fruits from the upper seg- 

 ments of the trees. 



In storage, the fruits from the upper segments of the trees 

 developed more bitter pit than similar-size fruits from the lower 

 segments. Within the upper segments of the trees, larger fruits 

 developed more bitter pit than the smaller fruits. 



Editors' Note: The advantages attributed to small apple trees 

 from the standpoint of better fruit color and fruit size probably 

 are due to greater exposure of foliage and fruit to light. These 

 studies by Jackson et al . which indicate that larger and better- 



