UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 274 



Er? Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry > 



*SZ?$*$&L WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief SL&'^&U 



Washington, D. C. 



July 8, 1915. 



FACTORS GOVERNING THE SUCCESSFUL 

 MENT OF RED RASPBERRIES FROM 

 THE PUYALLUP VALLEY. 1 



SHIP 



By H. J. Ramsey, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit-Handling and Storage Investi- 

 gations, Office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



The berry industry of the Puyallup 



Valley 2 



Methods of growing red raspberries- 5 

 Handling and shipping red raspber- 

 ries 10 



Causes of decay of fruit in transit__ 16 



Frequency of picking 19 



Relation of rainfall to handling 19 



Relation of methods of growing to 



keeping quality 19 



Page. 



The labor problem 20 



Handling, an economic problem 20 



Careful-handling experiments 20 



Effect of delay in cooling on keep- 

 ing quality 26 



rrecooling experiments 27 



Decay in top and bottom crates 32 



Temperature conditions in an iced 



refrigerator car 33 



The application of precooling 34 



Summary 35 



INTRODUCTION. 



• 



Berry growing is the leading horticultural industry in the Puyal- 

 lup Valley, Wash., and is rapidly increasing in importance in other 

 sections of that State and in Oregon and California. The growth 

 of this industry, as well as the prosperity of the community, in the 

 Puyallup Valley especially, is dependent largely on the extension 

 and broadening of the marketing zone for fresh berries. The carry- 

 ing and keeping qualities of the berries produced and offered for 

 shipment determine the territory and markets that can be profitably 

 reached. Under the ordinary and usual methods of handling and 

 refrigeration 2,000 miles has been the limit of successful shipment 



iB. B. Pratt :■ n>i a. w. McKay, formerly Pomologlstfl In Fruit-Handling and storage 

 gationi ; 8. -i. Dennis, Refrigeration Technologist; <;. n. Crawford, formerly As- 

 sistant Refrigeration Technologist; and G. W. Dewey and J. B\ Fernald, of the Office of 

 Horticultural :in<i Pomological Investigations, were actively associated In the prosecution 

 e Investigal 



Nora. — This bulletin is <>r Interest t<> growers and shippers of berries generally, and 

 especially to shipper of red raspberries, who are required to meet special problems. 



96874°— Bull. 274 I". I 



