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There is growing evidence that use o£ growth regulators during 

 the summer can have important influences on the fruit during storage. 

 Ethrel* can of course cause earlier ripening, even when it has been 

 applied long before harvest. Use of Alar* continues to be contro- 

 versial its host of effects on apple development makes assessment 



of its overall effect hard to evaluate. During the past 2 years 

 extensive studies have been carried out in a number of areas, but 

 especially in New York and Maine, and they have failed to show con- 

 sistent effects of Alar* except for greater firmness at harvest and 

 preharvest drop control. Our own results have also been inconsist- 

 ent. In the previous 2 years we found greater breakdown in Alar*- 

 treated fruit, but last year there was no more breakdown with Alar* 

 than without it. We believe that Alar* can produce greater break- 

 down under certain conditions, but that this problem can probably 

 be overcome by harvesting at the proper time. Do not delay harvest 

 of Alar-treated apples ; they should be harvested at the same time 

 as if Alar had not been used. 



We now see evidence that Promalin* may reduce storageability 

 of apples. Dr. Duane Greene has found in his experiments here 

 with both Delicious and Tlclntosh that Promalin increased the amount 

 of breakdown after storage, even when applied at low concentrations. 

 However, Dr. Warren Stiles has found no detrimental effects from 

 Promalin* on Mcintosh in Maine. Obviously, we have much to learn 

 about the effects of Promalin* but it may be that the cooler temper- 

 atures in Maine account for the differences in results. Nevertheless, 

 we believe that growers who have used Promalin* should be extra 

 cautious about long-term storage of these fruit. 



The ability to delay ripening of apples for almost a year is 

 a marvelous thing. It is even more marvelous for Mcintosh, which 

 is almost a summer variety. Successful long-term storage requires 

 a lot of things being done right, and the capacity of the fruit 

 to withstand this "test of time" can easily be eroded. Most of 

 what has been written above has dealt with efforts to protect against 

 these eroding influences. In conclusion it should be said that 

 from the standpoint of fruit quality nothing is gained by long-term 

 storage. Furthermore, the cost and scarcity of energy are sure to 

 lead to greater efforts to conserve energy during storage operation. 

 An obvious way to conserve energy is to store for shorter lengths 

 of time, and just as obviously, a way to do this is to market more 

 of the crop in the Fall. Ethrel* offers the means for starting 

 harvest sooner, and we think that once Fall marketing has begun it 

 should be utilized much more fully than is presently being done. 



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