MARKETING NEW HAMPSHIRE McINTOSH APPLES 



19 



PUNCTURES 

 FRONT OF TRUCK. Z 2. 



&A.CX OF TKUCK. 18 



SELLING 



i EXPOSED 4 DMS INSIOAI 



^^^^^^^^^^^^^!^^ 



Fig. 14. Additional Defects per 100 Fruits Resulting from Handling 



truck to the other, or from a truck into the store. Sliding against the 

 wall was intended to approximate what happens when one slides a 

 box of apples into a truck. The apples hauled to Boston and back un- 

 derwent exactly what happens to much of the fruit sold from New 

 Hampshire to wholesalers and brought back again in small quanti- 

 ties. In this experiment the fruit went down on our regular delivery 

 truck to the wholesale house in Boston and was brought back on the 

 same truck to our own storage, where counts were made. Some of 

 the fruit was hauled down and back at the front end of the truck, and 

 some at the back end. On the return trip, of course, the truck was 

 nearly empty and the roughness of the road was felt much more. 

 Samples were taken to a local store in Durham, and sold directly from 

 the box during the following four days. 



An examination of the data indicates that pouring and refilling a 

 box greatly increases the number of punctures and small bruises. On 

 the other hand, dropping a box of apples produces a number of large 

 bruises. Defects of this kind greatly increase the amount of waste. 

 Usually one bruise will increase the amount of waste in an apple by 

 at least 5 per cent. When the boxes were dropped twice, the amount 

 of damage of all kinds was practically doubled. The damage clone by 

 sliding a box against the wall is much less than that caused by drop- 

 ping. Hauling fruit to Boston and return on the front part of the 

 truck did not produce a great amount of damage, but hauling it on the 

 back of the truck with a light load increased the amount of large 

 bruises so that 20 per cent or more of the fruit was wasted. Exposing 

 fruit for sale in the original package greatly increased the number of 

 stem punctures and small bruises. There was no marked increase in 

 large bruises. It is evident that it is possible to produce a very large 

 amount of damage to fruit by rough handling before it gets into the 

 hands of the grocer. Likewise, rough handling of the boxes in the 

 store, while moving them around from one place to another, will pro- 

 duce similar bruises and stem punctures, and if the fruit is sold out- 

 side of the original container it is likely that many stem punctures and 

 small bruises and some large bruises will be added. 



