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CIRCULAR 65 9, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



. . . The Western fruit showed a large percentage of bruises caused by high 

 pressures . . . Some boxes of fruit came through with very few if any pres- 

 sure bruises while others had as high as 50 percent severe bruising. Much of 

 the damage is due to over-packing the boxes in an effort to secure a heavy 

 pack . . . 



The Ohio-grcwn apples showed severe bruises that were evidently caused, 

 for the most part, by careless handling. Some of the severe bruising can be 

 attributed to the packing methods and containers . . . 



The practice of overpacking alone accounts for many of the bruises present 

 on the apples in the grocers' displays. For every apple added to form an extra 

 large bulge, there is at least one severely bruised apple and several slightly 

 bruised ones. The extra weight added in the form of a large bulge is more 

 than off-set by the waste and falling-off in condition due to over-packing . . . 



The type of package used has an important bearing on the preva- 

 lence and severity of bruising that occurs in the handling of packed 

 fruit. The continuous stave bushel basket is so generally recognized 

 as being unsuitable for fruit that it is not necessary to cite experimental 

 results to prove the point. Nevertheless, this package is still used 

 to some extent for apples. It is impossible to get and keep a firm 

 tight pack in this type of basket. The nonrigidity of any side of the 

 package makes it give under pressure and permits the apples to be 

 bruised or punctured in much the same way that they are when a bag 

 is used as a picking container (p. 16) . The nonrigidity of such baskets 

 is especially objectionable when they are stacked in storage or during 

 transit. 



Figure 11. — Bruised and cut Stayman Winesap apples from the top layer of 

 tub type bushel basket that was packed too tightly. Note that all apples 

 except one, which are arranged to show injuries, were cut or badly bruised. 



