STORAGE, RESPIRATION, AND GROWTH. 51 



apples, but it was found that such was not the case. At each picking 

 the sample was divided into two portions, one of which was placed in 

 a refrigerator at a temperature of from 12 to 15 C. (53.6 to 59 F.), 

 and the apples so kept were examined after the lapse of several days. 

 The results of the examinations of these subsamples which were kept 

 in the refrigerator are printed in italics in Table VI, and they are also 

 expressed on the charts (figs. 13 to 16) by dotted lines. 



Referring to figure 13, in which the composition of the Early Straw - 

 beriy apples, based on total solids, is shown graphically, it is seen 

 that the composition of the sample of apples received June 17, 1903, 

 changed with remarkable rapidity. The sample at that time contained 

 21 per cent of starch, 1.6 per cent of sucrose, and 21 per cent of invert 

 sugar. After being kept in the refrigerator six days, it was examined 

 and found to contain 5.9 per cent of starch, 12.9 per cent of sucrose, 

 and 38.2 per cent of invert sugar. Thus, in six days the apples which 

 were picked from the trees and kept in the dark at a temperature con- 

 siderably lower than that to which those remaining on the trees were 

 exposed, contained less starch than the apples which ripened fully on 

 the trees forty-three days later, and almost as high a content of invert 

 sugar. At the same time it must be borne in mind that the apples 

 remaining on the trees during this period continued to grow the whole 

 time, whereas the transformation of starch in case of the apples 

 stored in the ice box was limited to a few days. For this reason the 

 parallel drawn is not entirely applicable. 



On several succeeding dates the samples drawn from the trees were 

 preserved in the refrigerator for a few days with similar results. It 

 was found with each successive picking that apples which were stored 

 in the refrigerator developed somewhat more slowly than on the pre- 

 ceding occasion. Thus, each succeeding curve representing the change 

 of the apples kept in the refrigerator is a little less vertical than that 

 preceding it. This demonstrates that the less mature the fruit is when 

 gathered the more rapid are the changes tending to maturity after 

 picking. It would seem, therefore, that, from a commercial stand- 

 point, apples which are fairly mature may be expected to retain a 

 more constant composition than those picked in an immature state. 

 The same generalization also applies to the charts representing the 

 changes in composition in other varieties of summer apples, and are* 

 especially borne out in the composite chart (fig. 16), which gives the 

 average of the results obtained with the three varieties of summer 

 apples. 



The work on the winter apples was much more satisfactory than 

 that on the summer apples, because of the fact that they ripened more 

 simultaneously and the problem of securing a representative sample 

 was not so difficult. For this reason the curves representing the 

 changes of composition of the winter apples (as shown by figures 17 



