HANDLING AND SHIPPING FRESH CHERRIES AND PRUNES. 13 



It is evident that cherries grown in humid sections subject to con- 

 siderable rainy weather at harvest time are more susceptible to 

 injury than similar varieties grown in the more arid sections, and 

 they therefore require all the more careful handling. In view of 

 this fact it would seem advisable where practicable to make more 

 extended trials of shipping in berry crates, in this way obviating the 

 necessity of tight packing. 



Whether the cherries are shipped in carload lots under refrigera- 

 tion or in smaller lots by express, immediate loading is essential. 



Precooling or the prompt cooling of cherries before shipment is of 

 material assistance in minimizing decay in transit. Precooling, how- 

 ever, is hardly justified unless the fruit is carefully and properly 

 handled, and it should never be depended on to overcome the bad 

 effects of rough or careless handling. It is essential that the fruit be 

 cooled as quickly as possible after picking, that the precooling be 

 thoroughly done, and that the fruit be transferred to the refrigerator 

 car without exposure to the warmer outside temperatures. 



PRUNE INVESTIGATIONS. 



EXTENT AND STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



Prune growing is the leading horticultural industry of those por- 

 tions of Polk and Marion Counties adjacent to Salem, as well as of 

 several other counties in the Willamette Valley, Oreg. The Italian 

 prune is the variety most widely planted and was used exclusively in 

 these handling and precooling investigations. As almost the entire 

 product of the section in the vicinity of Salem and in the Willamette 

 Valley generally is evaporated, all cultural and handling operations 

 have been developed with this end in view. 



While the main dependence must be placed on marketing the prod- 

 uct in an evaporated state, during most seasons it would be greatly 

 to the growers' advantage if a portion of the fresh crop could be 

 profitably shipped. The practicability of and success with fresh- 

 prune shipments from this and other sections depend primarily on 

 whether the product can be delivered in sound and good merchant- 

 able condition. During the seasons of 1910 and 1911 several car- 

 loads of fresh prunes were shipped to Chicago and other eastern 

 markets under refrigeration, but with rather unsatisfactory results, 

 due mainly to the fact that most of the shipments arrived in a badly 

 decayed condition. Further shipments were planned for the season 

 of 1913, but unfaA^orable weather conditions immediately preceding 

 the harvesting season, along with attractive prices offered for the 

 dried product, caused the growers to abandon all fresh-fruit shipping 

 plans. 



