18 BULLETIN 331, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The relation, however, of this form of decay to transportation con- 

 ditions and the practicability of fresh-fruit shipping is well illus- 

 trated in the data giving the results of the work in 1913. 



EFFECT OF DELAYED SHIPMENT ON KEEPING QUALITY. 



During the season of 1911 half of all the experimental lots of 

 prunes were held for two days in the warehouse before being placed 

 in the precooling room or in the refrigerator car, in order to deter- 

 mine the effect of delayed cooling and shipping. While it is generally 

 recognized that delay in the cooling or shipping of any perishable 

 fruit product is inadvisable from the standpoint of decay and condi- 

 tion, in certain localities a delay of two or three days is of frequent 

 occurrence. This is especially true where two to four days are 



IMMEDIATE 



/=>£■/? CEAT DECA Y 



DAYS IN ICED 



ON WITHDRAWAL 

 SIX DAYS LATER 



EN DAYS IN ICED 



ON WITHDRAWAL 

 SIX DAYS LATER 



MTY DAYS IN ICED 



ON WITHDRAWAL 

 SIX DAYS LATER 



DELAYED Z DAYS 



PEG CE/VT DECAV 



1 1 ' 1 ■' ITEN 



WB 3.7 



CARl ' 1 ' 1 1 1 ' 



40||PJ 



i&ollllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIV 



FIFTE 



H 64 



CAR 



9.* ^9 



■■HI Illilllllllllilllllll'e.3 



TWE 



ia.i||||||||||||||||||||llllilllIIIIIIUIIIIIIIUII 



CAR 



16.1 M 



i minim Uffll! |||||||'9.6 



z>.6|||||||||l!ll!ll!l!l!lllllll!IIIIJ!!IJIII!!llllllllllllllllllllir 







Fig. 5. — Diagram illustrating the percentages of decay in commercially handled nonpre- 

 cooled prunes immediately loaded and those delayed two days in the warehouse before 

 loading, Salem, Oreg., 1911. 



required to assemble a full carload, the fruit meantime being held in 

 sheds or packing houses. 



Table V and figure 5 give a comparison of decay in commercially 

 handled fruit loaded immediately and delayed two days in the pack- 

 ing house before loading. After a transit period of 10 days the 

 fruit immediately loaded had developed 3.7 per cent of decay and 

 the delayed fruit 4 per cent. After a 15-day holding period the 

 immediate and delayed lots had developed 6.4 per cent and 9.4 per 

 cent of decay, respectively, and the immediately loaded fruit in 

 transit 10 days and held 6 days under ordinary market conditions 

 showed 8.6 per cent of decay, as against 16 per cent for the fruit 

 delayed two days prior to shipment. While these differences are not 

 as striking, or perhaps as consistent, as those found between care- 

 fully and commercially handled fruit, they nevertheless indicate the 

 necessity of prompt shipment after picking and packing. The seri- 

 ousness of delay before loading and shipping will also depend largely 

 upon the temperature conditions at harvesting time. If the tem- 

 peratures are abnormally high, a delay of a few hours in the packing 



