26 



BULLETIN 331, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Table X. — Decay in four series of prune shipments from orchards showing little 

 or no broion-rot and in comparable series from orchards badly affected with 

 brown-rot, Willamette Valley, season of 1913. 



Time of inspection. 



Brown-rot, time factors, and extent of 

 decay (per cent). 



Practically free 

 from brown-rot. 



10-day 

 with- 

 drawal. 



15-day 

 with- 

 drawal. 



Badly affected 

 with brown-rot. 



10-day 

 with- 

 drawal. 



15-day 

 with- 

 drawal. 



On withdrawal 



4 days after withdrawal 

 7 days after withdrawal 



0.1 



.8 



2.3 



1.0 

 5.2 

 9.6 



2.7 

 9.4 

 15.8 



The possibility of marketing prunes in a fresh condition will de- 

 pend, therefore, largely upon correct handling and cultural practices. 

 The exercise of the necessary care in harvesting will prevent decay 

 due to mechanical injuries made in handling. Proper cultural prac- 

 tices should secure the delivery to the packing house of prunes free 

 from brown-rot infection. The successful solution of this problem 

 will depend entirely upon the industry, that is, the efficiency shown 

 in controlling the factors which to the greatest degree determine the 

 condition of fresh prunes in transit. 



MATURITY TESTS. 



During the season of 1913 an effort was made to determine the 

 proper stage of maturity at which prunes should be picked for fresh- 

 fruit shipment. The excessive development of brown-rot in the ex- 

 perimental lots, especially during the early part of the season, tended 

 to nullify any results that might have been obtained. Three picks 

 were made one week apart, the first pick about three weeks before the 

 fruit is normally harvested for evaporation or drying. It was be- 

 lieved by many people that the fruit would grow considerably be- 

 tween the first and last picks, but the data accumulated along this 

 line indicate that there was no considerable increase in size between 

 the first and third picking, except in one instance. If proper allow- 

 ance is made for the prevalence of brown-rot during the early part 

 of the season, the time of picking did not seem to have any noticeable 

 effect on the keeping quality of the prunes. There was, however, a 

 striking difference in the condition of the prunes at the final inspec- 

 tions of the early and late picks, the former showing no natural 

 deterioration whatever, while the latter developed considerable. 



The most striking fact brought out in the maturity test relates to 

 quality. The fruit from the first pick had an excellent flavor at the 

 end of the longest storage period for that fruit, while the fruit in the 

 last pick, irrespective of the orchards from which it came, was almost 

 unfit to eat, although the physical appearance was very good. 



