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What can a grower do to prevent "soft Macs?" We know of no 

 sure preventative other than early marketing of the fruit. However, 

 careful attention to basic details of fruit growing, handling and 

 storage reduce the problem. Avoid over-fertilizing and over-prun- 

 ing, and try to maintain annual bearing. Large, soft fruit are 

 especially susceptible to the problem, (although smaller fruits may 

 also develop it) and such fruit should be marketed early. Do not 

 store late-harvested fruit for long periods of time even though 

 they have been treated with Alar*. Their storage life has been sig- 

 nificantly shortened before they have come off the tree, because 

 they are already ripe . Use growth regulators with great caution. 

 Stop-drop sprays other than Alar* hasten ripening and shorten stor- 

 age life, and Ethrel* can promote ripening tremendously. Don't de- 

 lay harvest of growth regulator-treated fruits if they are intended 

 for late storage! 



Cool harvested fruits as quickly as possible, and thoroughly . 

 We suspect that many apples, especially those in bulk bins, are 

 not thoroughly precooled. Store them a_t the recommended tempera- 

 ture, not near it. We have repeatedly pointed out that a degree 

 or two above the recommended temperature can reduce life dramati- 

 cally. (How accurate is your storage thermometer?) Maintain air 

 movement in storage so that "hot spots" do not develop. 



Nevertheless, the most careful and conscientious grower may 

 still suffer losses from "soft Macs" if his fruit happen to be sub- 

 ject to the problem. We recommend frequent observation of fruit 

 scheduled to be stored until March or later as a precaution. Place 

 several boxes of the largest, reddest fruit (sampled from the lots 

 being stored) in front of the "porthole" in the door. Starting in 

 mid-February, periodically open the porthole and remove 20 or so 

 apples; determine their condition after 5 to 7 days at room temper- 

 ature. A fairly large sample is necessary for observation because 

 at the onset of the "soft Mcintosh problem" only a relatively small 

 percentage of the fruit show it. The best way to determine if any 

 of the fruit are excessively soft is by applying pressure with the 

 thumb. On soft apples, the flesh ruptures readily from the pressure, 

 If your apples do not appear to be "holding condition" as well as 

 they should, market them as quickly as possible. 



Obviously, there is no cure for "soft Macs," only prevention. 

 And only care, careful observation, and good fortune can be offered 

 as protectants at this time. 



