4 BULLETIN 331, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



fruit certainly would be much greater under transit conditions than 

 under the holding conditions described. 



The cherries were held in the iced car for lengths of time approxi- 

 mating transit periods of 5, 10, and 15 days. Inspections were made 

 at withdrawal, and again 2 and 4 days after withdrawal. The 

 prunes were inspected after holding periods of 10, 15, and 20 days 

 in a refrigerator car, and again 2, 4, and 6 days after withdrawal 

 from the car. 



CAUSES OF DECAY IN TRANSIT. 



The losses caused by the decay of cherries and prunes in transit are 

 due primarily to fungi gaining entrance through mechanical abrasions 

 in the skin or other injuries and to brown-rot {Sclerotinia fructi- 

 gena). In general, these may be divided into two groups: (1) The 

 fungi which have not the power to penetrate the sound, unbroken 

 skin of fruits, but depend entirely upon injuries or mechanical abra- 

 sions for entrance, and (2) the fungi which can attack and cause the 

 decay of sound fruit, either on or off the tree. An instance of the 

 latter is the brown-rot, which, during certain seasons, is very serious 

 on stone fruits. The investigations during the seasons of 1911 and 

 1913 show that this fungus is the cause of serious losses in transit, 

 both in cherries and prunes, and the prevention of such losses must 

 necessarily be dependent upon proper and effective orchard sanita- 

 tion and spraying practices. 1 



The most common fungi gaining entrance through injuries and 

 mechanical abrasions and causing serious losses in transit are the 

 common gray mold (Botrytis) and blue mold (Penicillium). These 

 two fungi are responsible for most of the losses, aside from those 

 occasioned by brown-rot. They gain entrance either through me- 

 chanical abrasions or injuries made in picking, hauling, and packing, 

 or through cracks and splitting in both cherries and prunes by reason 

 of rainy weather just prior to or at harvesting time. These fungi 

 are dependent upon injuries or breakages of the skin for entrance; 

 hence, the remedy obviously lies in the handling of the fruit in such 

 a way as to prevent bruising and injury and in the careful grading 

 out of all cracked or split fruit at the time of packing. 



CHERRY INVESTIGATIONS. 



DESCRIPTION OF COMMERCIAL HANDLING METHODS. 



As previously stated, the greater part of the cherry crop in this 

 section is either camied, put up in barrels for maraschino purposes, or 

 evaporated. Under ordinary conditions of handling, either for the 



1 Jackson, H. S. Diseases of drupaceous fruits. — Brown-rot of stone fruits. In Oreg. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta., Bien. Crop Pest and Hort. Rpt., 1911-12, p. 248-250, fig. 3, 1913 



Bailey, P. D. Experimental spraying of prunes for control of brown-rot. In Oreg. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta., 2d Bien. Crop Pest and Hort. Rpt., 1913-14, p. 241-244, 1915. 



