NOT WASHED I 



26 BULLETIN 63, U, S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUKE. 



wholly to those received in the commercial field-handling operations the decay was 

 practically the same as in the case of lots where injuries were confined to those received 

 in the washing and drying operations. From this the assumption may be drawn that 

 the bad effects following washing are due not so much to actual injuries made in 

 passing the fruit through the machine as to the inoculation of injured and bruised 

 spots through the agency of dirty, infected water. There seems to be a definite 

 relationship between the tj'pe of field handling and the occurrence of decay following 

 washing. Injuries made in the grove, punctures from long stems, or other damage 

 received as the oranges pass through the machinery are aggravated by the addition of 

 moisture, especially when the water is not clean. On the other hand, the quality of 

 work performed by the machinery is largely dependent upon the manner in wliich 

 the fruit is handled in the grove, and this consideration emphasizes the necessity of 

 careful and systematic methods, especially where washing must be employed. Fruit 

 which is handled in groves and packinghouses with sufficient care to insure its packing 

 without injury usually shows much less decay after washing than the same or similar 

 fruit which has been treated less carefully. 



Fruit which is covered with sooty mold must be thoroughly soaked before i,t is in 

 proper condition for washing. This introduces a prolific source of infection — the 

 soaking tank. Unless the water in the soaking tank is kept sanitary by being fre- 

 quently changed, it soon becomes heavily charged with blue-mold spores, and is 

 then one of the most dangerous features of the washing operations. As yet, no disinfect- 

 ant has been found which 



CAREF^UL COMM£l=?CIAL rr ,■ 



p/cK AA/D PAc/< p/cHAA/DPACK proves ettective against 



~^ -^ "^"^ ^ blue mold. Extensive in- 



% ^^^^^H 3.S "/o 



vestigation of this phase of 

 WASHED ■■■■■■'«'./ s^ MiBBB^MBBI^BB/a^' 9^ the subject has shown the 



spores to be so resistant 

 ^'';;'°Tf.^^^'^ illnatrating the percentage of blue-mold decay- ^^^ solution used to 



after holding oranges, washed and not washed, for two weeks m •' 



a packing house; summary of all experiments, 1910-11. destroy them must be of 



sufiicient strength to injure 

 the surface of the fruit. The importance of maintaining the soaking tank in a sanitary 

 condition is therefore fundamental. It should be emptied frequently, and sprays of 

 fresh water should be directed against the fruit as it passes through the washing 

 machine. 



RESULTS OF WASHING EXPERIMENTS. 



Tables IX, X, and XI, and figures 10, 11, and 12 show the results obtained during the 

 season of 1910-11, when the washing experiments of the bureau were carried on in a 

 comprehensive and systematic manner, giving the average percentages of decay found 

 in carefully and commercially handled fruit, washed and not washed, respectively. 

 The fruit was packed as if for shipment, but instead was held for two weeks in the 

 packing houses and the percentages of decay determined by actual count. Table IX 

 and its accompanying diagram (fig. 10) present a summary of all the washing experi- 

 ments carried on during the season, including the work of 13 different types of ma- 

 chines, operated in 32 packing houses. The figures show the relative increase in 

 decay due to the washing operations alone in the case of the carefully handled fruit 

 and to the combination of causes in the case of the commercially handled fi'uit. The 

 carefully handled oranges, not washed, showed 1 per cent of decay after two weeks; 

 the washed, 4.1 per cent. In the commercially handled lots, the fruit not washed 

 showed 3.6 per cent of decay and the washed fruit 10.2 per cent. The figures 

 include the results of work done in many different ways, and while they summarize 

 the general effects of washing, some analysis of the data is necessary in order to bring 

 out the points of fundamental importance. 



