Circular No. 659 



Issued August 1942 . Washington5 D . C . 

 Revised October 1951 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Handling Apples From Tree to Table 



By D. F. Fisher, formerly principal horticulturist, 1 and Edwin Smith, senior horticul- 

 turist, Division of Handling, Transportation, and Storage of Horticultural Crops, 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Re- 

 search Administration 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



The grower's responsibility 2 



When to pick apples 1 2 



Criteria of maturity 3 



When to pack apples 6 



Factors affecting condition during 



storage 8 



Maturity at harvest 8 



Storage temperature 9 



Gas storage 13 



Atmospheri c humidity 13 



Storage with other products 15 



Air purification 15 



Page 



Factors affecting condition during 

 storage — Continued 



Fungus diseases 15 



Bruising and other mechanical 



injuries 18 



Physiological diseases 22 



Effects of packaging 26 



Prepackaging for the consumer, _ 33 



The shipper's responsibility 35 



The dealer's responsibility 37 



The industry's responsibility 41 



Literature cited 42 



INTRODUCTION 



The condition of apples in retail markets is sometimes disappointing 

 to buyers. To the extent that it influences the demand for apples, such 

 disappointment affects the market price of the fruit and the returns to 

 the grower. Most important in this connection are the stage of ripeness 

 of the fruit and its freedom from decay, bruises, and other injuries. 



Growers who invest a season's work in pruning, fertilizing, spraying, 

 and cultivating their orchards, with all the care and expense necessary 

 to produce a clean crop of high-quality fruit, cannot help being dis- 

 turbed by the poor condition of apples offered by retailers. This also 

 constitutes one of the greatest handicaps to success of organizations 

 established by the apple industry to advertise and otherwise promote 

 the sale and use of apples. 



Died September 18, 1949. 



