ANNUAL REPORT, 1943-44 59 



Marcy, and in early December for a hardy variety like Latham or Chief. Some 

 shoots of Marcy, when brought into the greenhouse in late November had very 

 immature terminals with leaves still attached. The buds on these terminals 

 were easily forced into growth, making it look as if they had never gone into the 

 rest period. 



The terminal buds of raspberry canes common!)- start first. To check the possi- 

 bility that this is caused bj' a difference in the resting condition of the buds on 

 the tip and on the basal half of the cane, canes were cut in half and the two halves 

 forced separately. The fact that the top buds on the terminal and basal halves 

 started equally readily (see cut) showed that the starting of the terminal buds 

 is due to polarity and not to differences in rest period. 



In winters when minimum temperatures are not below normal, there may still 

 be considerable winter injury as in the winter of 1943-44. To see whether this 

 injury is due to drying out and could be prevented by waxing the canes, a section 

 of a row of each of the six varieties named above was sprayed with Dowax in 

 the late fall. In the spring there was no difference in the amount of winter injury 

 on the waxed and unwaxed canes, nor were there any consistent differences in 

 moisture content of the canes. However, it is difficult to maintain a good wax 

 coating on the canes, particularly the larger ones, the bark of which tends to split 

 and peel off. 



Estimates were made in the spring of 1943 and 1944 of the amount of winter 

 injury to red raspberries, expressed as percentage of the total cane length injured. 

 Results were as follows: 



Variety Percent Injury 



1943 1944 



Cuthbert 25 60 



Taylor 28 13 



Washington 30 31 



Ohta 35 15 



Milton 44 18 



Viking 45 70 



Marcy 68 63 



Newburg 75 50 



Controlled-Atmosphere Storage of Apples. (L. Southwick and O. C. Roberts, 

 in cooperation with the Department of Engineering.) 



1942-43 Season — -The controlled-atmosphere storage room was filled (about 

 300 bushels) and closed on September 25, 19-^2. The oxygen was reduced to 

 around 7 percent in two weeks' time, but it required seven weeks to reach 2 per- 

 cent because of air leakage through the washer. 



The Mcintosh apples came out in fair to good condition on April 30, 1943. 

 Although the characteristic aroma was lacking, as expected, the eating qualit>- 

 comprising firmne.'^s, crispness, juiciness, and flavor was superior to that of cold 

 storage Mcintosh. There is no doubt that the apples "kept" better and were 

 less mature after 7 months in the controlled-atmosphere storage at 40°F. than 

 similar apples in ordinary 32°F. cold storage. There was no regular storage 

 scald but many apples were affected with a trouble which in appearance resembled 

 soft scald but which probably was due to a lack of sufficient oxygen. On several 

 occasions, and for periods of from one to several days, the oxygen level was below 

 2 percent and in two instances below 1 percent. 



An experiment on the effect of date of harvest and pre-storage temperature 

 following picking of Mcintosh was conducted. Apples were harvested Septem- 

 ber 10, 15, and 2!, and each picking was divided into three lots which were 



