16 



BULLETIN *714^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table IX. — Increase in amount of rot due to separating or sorting cranberries, 

 as shown by tests made at Whitesbog, N. J., in 1917. 



Couditions of test. 



Results noted (per cent). 



Rotten 

 Sept. 21 

 (1 week 



after 

 picking). 



Total 



rotten on 



Oct. 31 



(after 6 



wcelcs in 



storage). 



Rot 

 developed 

 in storage. 



Increase 

 of storage 

 rot due to 



previous 

 handling. 



Berries of good keeping quality (sprayed): 



Hand sorted before storage 



Separated and sorted before storage. . . 



Not handled before storage 



Berries of poor keeping quality (uiispraye( 



Hand sorted before storage 



Separated and sorted before storage. . . 



Not handled before storage 



5.9 

 5.7 

 3.9 



30.4 

 28.3 

 22.6 



4.2 



1.9 



4.1 



1.8 



? 3 





8.S 



7.8 



6.7 



5.7 



1.0 





Table IX shows that even with berries of excellent keeping quality 

 the amount of decay developed in storage was nearly doubled by a 

 previous sorting either by hand or by machine and that the effect of 

 hand sorting was at least as severe as that of machine separating. 

 On berries of potentially poor keeping quality the effect was similar 

 but very much more marked. It appears that these berries did not 

 decay in storage any faster than the sprayed berries unless they had 

 been bruised previously by sorting, but that w^hen so bruised the rot 

 developed rapidly and in large amount. Here, again, hand sorting 

 alone proved slightly more injurious than separating by machine. 



This experiment indicates that the berries should be handled as 

 little as possible and as late as possible before disposal, especially in 

 the case of fruit of bad or doubtful keeping quality. 



As another example of the increase in the amount of decay which 

 is caused by hand sorting, the results of a test made at Wareham, 

 Mass., in the fall of 1917 may be cited. Ten bushel boxes of Early 

 Black cranberries were scooped on September 12 in such a way that 

 two boxes came from each of five different regions of the bog, the 

 two boxes from each region being as nearly alike as possible. All 

 the berries were stored with abundant ventilation at a temperature 

 which varied from 15° to 5° C. (59° to 41° F.) as the season ad- 

 vanced. Five boxes, one of each pair, were carefully hand sorted on 

 October 3 and the good berries replaced in the boxes and held until 

 November 6, when all the berries were sorted. The results, sum- 

 marized in Table X, indicate that the sorting on October 3 more than 

 doubled the amount of rot during the following month. 



