HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 33 



does mean that they are likely to give less satisfaction to the con- 

 sumer, thereby doubtless indirectly affecting the market for apples 

 in general. Shippers who use ventilation service indiscriminately 

 are to that extent increasing the hazards of the industry and inviting 

 dissatisfaction among consumers, which must affect the demand for 

 apples. 



Shipments can be billed to move under standard refrigeration or 

 various modifications thereof. Under standard refrigeration the 

 bunkers of the car are initially iced to capacity and are refilled at all 

 regular icing stations en route (usually at least once every 24 hours), 

 and the car is delivered with bunkers at least three-fourths full. 

 When shipments are precooled or are loaded out of cold storage and 

 move under standard refrigeration, maximum protection is secured. 



Sometimes modified refrigeration services can be utilized to effect 

 savings in cost without sacrificing efficiency of refrigeration, and 

 shippers are utilizing such services to an increasing extent. It is 

 possible, however, that some apple shippers are going too far in this 

 direction. The apple does not ripen as rapidly as some other fruits, 

 but every day that it is kept above the optimum storage temperature 

 means a progressive shortening of the time before it will become full 

 ripe, and presently thereafter, overripe and undesirable or unsalable. 

 Consequently, the use of protective services providing relatively warm 

 temperatures during the transit period interjects an element of 

 hidden damage to the potential storage quality of the fruit. The 

 degree to which this damage may be hidden, or the time at which 

 it will become apparent in the ripening of the fruit depends on the 

 condition of the apples at time of shipment and their temperature 

 while in transit. It is more likely to be serious with varieties like 

 the Jonathan, Rome Beauty, and Delicious, which are often left on 

 the trees until past proper picking stage in order to get more red 

 color, than with later keeping varieties, such as Winesap and Yellow 

 Xewtown. 



The effects of hidden damage of the type described are probably 

 seen to the greatest extent in shipments that move under heater 

 service. Mallison, Gorman, and Hukill (12) found that the use of 

 heater service often means the occurrence of temperatures in the car 

 during cold weather that call for the use of refrigeration during 

 warmer weather. Such inconsistency is due to the impossibility of 

 closely regulating the amount of heat supplied and the distribution 

 of that heat in the car with ordinary heating devices and the method 

 of using them now commonly employed. As pointed out by Mallison 

 and others (12), much improvement should be possible in heater 

 service by the use of thermostatically controlled car heaters or of 

 manually controlled heaters operated upon the basis of temperatures 

 inside the car, rather than of outside temperatures. Under present 

 practices freezing temperatures are sometimes found in the bottom 

 of the load when temperatures are up to 60° F. or higher in the upper 

 layers. Unquestionably a great deal of damage has been done to 

 winter shipments of Delicious and other varieties, which are espe- 

 cially prone to become mealy, by the heater service used to protect 

 the fruit against freezing while in transit. This is particularly true 

 of apples grown in the Pacific Northwest and shipped to eastern 

 markets. 



