74 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 355 



n curing giz zard lesions. Of these the alfalfa leaf meal appeared to be the most 

 eflFective at the levels fed. The Massachusetts State College ration, which was 

 effective in preventing gizzard lesions, was likewise a very good curative agent. 



It was demonstrated that chicks kept for one or two weeks on a diet which pre- 

 vented gizzard lesions, soon dexeloped lesions when changed to the Almquist 

 gizzard lesion producing diet. These findings provide further evidence that chicks 

 do not store any great amount of the "anti-gizzard-lesion factor" in their body 

 and that they do need a constant source of this factor in their diet. 



A preliminary study with turkey poults indicated that young turkeys either 

 are not susceptible to nutritional gizzard lesions or are more resistant to them 

 than are chicks. 



DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURAL MANUFACTURES 

 W. W. Chenoweth in Charge 



Technological Investigations on Apples. (C. R. Fellers, J. A. Clague, and 

 A. S. Levine.) The canning experiments on baked and glazed apples were con- 

 tinued with 20 varieties. Among the best for canning are Northern Spy, Baldwin, 

 York, Rhode Island Greening and Gravenstein. Glazing in syrup is preferred to 

 actually baking in an oven. A 40° Brix syrup is recommended. The canned 

 product is very attractive, of excellent flavor, and keeps indefinitely under good 

 storage conditions. The addition of small amounts of malic or citric acid to the 

 syrup materially improves the final product. 



The canning of apple slices in syrup is now being investigated. By cooking 

 slowly in boiling syrup, or by vacuumization, the gases are removed from the 

 tissues. Whether or not canned sliced apples in syrup will prove to be a good 

 dessert fruit cannot be anticipated. We feel that the possibilities are bright. 



Apple pectin extracts have been manufactured experimentally with a view to 

 obtaining a stable, home-prepared yet effective, jellying agent. The varying 

 of the hydrogen-ion concentration of the extracting medium produced marked 

 difTerences in pectin yield, sugar strength, and jelly strength of the pectin extracts. 

 An increase in hydrogen-ion concentration increased pectin yield and sugar sup- 

 porting capacity of the extract. Exposure of the sliced fruit to air before extrac- 

 tion was inimical to the sugar strength of liquid apple pectin. The longer the 

 exposure, the greater became the destructive pectinase enzyme action. Storage 

 of the extracts at high temperatures resulted in a loss in viscosity and sugar 

 strength. The use of Clarase and diastase preparations effectively cleared 

 apple pectin extracts from starchy suspensions. In most cases pectin quality 

 was injured to some extent by the use of clarifying enzymes. 



Vitamin C determinations were made on 30 additional varieties of apples during 

 the harvesting season. As previously reported, extreme variations in vitamin C 

 content occur among varieties. 



Nutritive Studies on Fresh and Processed Fruits and Vegetables. (C. R. 



Fellers, Wm. B. Esselen, Jr., VV. A. Maclinn, and C. F. Dunker.) The vitamin C 

 investigations on raw tomatoes and processed juice have been continued for the 

 third successive season. Since the results are being published in full in Bulletin 

 354, they are not discussed here. 



Additional work on spinach showed that fresh, raw spinach contains from 400 

 to 450 international units of vitamin C per ounce. The loss on cooking was from 

 33 to 67 percent depending on the amount of cook water used ; in general, the larger 

 the amount of water, the greater the loss. From 10 to 30 percent of the original 



