18 STATION BULLETIN 347 



apples in such fashion as to give maximum consumer appeal, or to 

 justify the additional expense. Any package adopted should also 

 serve to reduce bruising and handling expense in retail stores. In 

 fact, one of the principal purposes of a package for Mcintosh apples 

 should be that of carrying the fruit to consumers in better condition. 

 Two good types of package are now available : one for mail order 

 shipping, and the other for retail stores. Under war conditions, prices 

 and supplies may restrict use, but future development may occur af- 

 ter the war. Figure 13 shows several of these packages. 



PACKAGING AND HANDLING 



The cpuestion arises as to what practices contribute to the changes 

 in condition of the fruit from the time it leaves the grower's hands to 

 the time it comes into the hands of the consumer. Some have thought 

 the tightness of the pack might be a factor in injury to apples. Packs 

 of the three types were made up and placed in storage at the Universi- 

 ty cold storage plant as soon as the fruit was harvested. Some of 

 them were removed December 20 and others February 6, at which 

 time the packages were hauled and handled uniformly before examina- 

 tion. One could hardly say that there was an appreciable difference 

 between the three packs so far as they result in punctures and small 

 or large bruises. (See Table 12.) 



To determine the effect of rough handling of the boxes, various 

 forms of violence were practiced on the packages. Figure 14 shows 

 the results of such experiments. In examining these data it is well to 

 keep in mind that the numbers recorded are not the actual number of 

 punctures, small bruises, and large bruises, but the number in addition 

 to those found on fruit which had not undergone this treatment. In 

 these tests we endeavored to approximate the results of certain prac- 

 tices which might be used by stores or trucking firms in the handling 

 of boxed apples. Pouring and filling, for instance, approximates what 

 the grocer does when he takes a box of apples and pours them upon 

 a table or in the store window, then afterwards puts them back in the 

 box. Dropping a box 15 inches is a very close approximation to what 

 truck drivers may do to apples in the box when moving them from one 



Table 12. Effect of Tightness of Pack on Defects 



* Boxes 1 l /s bu. - 1C> inch x 13fjj inch x 1 1 '/$ inch - note shrinkage in 38-day period. 



