12 



BULLETIN 645, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In the spring of 1917 another series of experiments was conducted 

 fco determine the relative merits of bright and russet fruit with refer- 

 ence to their carrying qualities. Twelve lots of oranges, each con- 

 taining an equal number of brights and russets, were picked and 

 carefully selected so as to avoid any mechanical injuries. So far as 

 possible, the brights and russets from each lot were taken from the 

 same tree. Examinations were usually made every seven days. Table 

 5 gives the percentage of decay for each period of all the lots. 



Table 5. — Percentage of decay of " brights " and " russets." 



Number 

 of days. 



"Brights." 



" Russets." 



Number 



of 



sound 



fruits. 



Number! Total 

 .Number number 



Per 



cent 

 decay. 



Number 



of 



sound 



fruits. 



Number 



of 

 decayed 

 fruits. 



Total 

 number 



of 

 decayed 



fruits. 



Per 

 cent 



decay. 



5 



12 

 19 

 26 

 33 

 40 

 47 

 54 

 61 



95 

 94 

 93 

 89 



s 



60 

 59 

 50 

 34 







1 1 



1 2 

 4 6 



10 16 



8 24 



11 35 

 1 36 



9 45 

 4 49 



0.0 



1.05 



2.10 



6.31 



16.84 



25.26 



36.8 



37.89 



47.36 



51.57 



95 

 95 

 95 

 87 

 78 

 56 

 40 

 31 

 12 

 11 





 

 

 8 

 9 

 22 

 16 

 9 



1 



0.0 



| .0 



I .0 



8 8.42 



17 17.90 



39 1 41.05 



55 57. 90 



64 1 67. 36 



83 87. 36 



84 88.42 



The above experiment was terminated about 2^ months after it 

 was started. At that time 27 of the bright fruits were sound, 25 

 of which were eaten, and only 3 of the russets were sound, none 

 of which were edible. The 95 bright fruits had averaged 51 days and 

 the 95 russet had averaged 36 days before developing decay. In 11 

 of the 12 lots the brights lasted longer than the russets. According 

 to weight, the percentage of decay was 45.3 in the brights arid 64.S 

 in the russets. 



The rate of evaporation of the juices is also much greater in 

 russet fruit than in bright. From January 30 to April 7, 1915, 21 

 bright grapefruit lost 4.7 per cent and 24 russet lost 13.6 per cent 

 from evaporation. During the same time 51 bright grapefruit lost 

 5.9 per cent, and the 51 russet lost 9.5 per cent. One box of bright 

 oranges lost 10.1 per cent, and another box of russets containing the 

 same number of fruits lost 15 per cent. Another box of brights lost 

 11.8 per cent by evaporation and the box of russets lost 17.9 per cent. 

 In one box of half brights and half russets the brights lost 17.4 per 

 cent and the russets 21 per cent. In one box of brights the loss from 

 evaporation was the same as that sustained by the russet box. In 8 

 of the 12 lots mentioned under " decay " (Table 5) the percentage of 

 evaporation was greater from russet than from bright fruit and the 

 total of the 12 lots showed the russets evaporated 23.12 per cent and 

 the bright 22.68 per cent. 



