HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 27 



a way as to bruise and puncture a large proportion of the good fruit re- 

 maining. Surveys in retail stores in various parts of the country reveal 

 that the outstanding defect in the apples offered for sale is bruising— 

 often very bad bruising. In self-service stores customers naturally do 

 not select badly bruised apples and in other stores such apples are 

 heavily discounted. Offering bruised fruit is contrary to the interests 

 of both seller and buyer, as well as of the producer. Often the industry 

 as a whole suffers in consequence, not only because of low profits but 

 also because consumers turn to more attractive competing fruits — 

 fresh, frozen, or canned — which may be available in the same store. 



Examination of the apples before they are removed from the original 

 container shows that much of the bad bruising occurs after the fruit 

 is packed. The greatest single factor in producing this damage is the 

 trade's insistence on a high bulge or heavy pack so that apples can be 

 bought by the package and sold by the pound. A high-bulge pack 

 usually brings the producer a few cents more than one that is merely 

 tight (as distinct from a slack pack); so many growers make it a rule 

 to put on the high bulge. Because such packs are favored in the whole- 

 sale trade but ultimately result in slowing down retail sales, their wide- 

 spread use points to a notable lack of coordination among the various 

 factors concerned in handling the commercial apple crop. However, 

 for the reasons indicated, it is not likely that this situation can be cor- 

 rected without an industry-wide effort. If the grower or packer could 

 reach the consumer directly, the practice would be abolished very 

 quickly, but when their' contact is remote, and through intermediaries 

 whose interest in apples is only incidental, the problem becomes very 

 difficult. 



Results Of a survey conducted in the winter of 1940-41 by Crandall 

 in the retail stores of Columbus, Ohio, and reported by Nold (19), 

 show the extent to which bruising is found in apples offered for sale in 

 retail stores, as follows : 



In determining the various types of damage, the following classification was used: 

 1. Slightly bruised — (Enough damage to affect the external appearance); 2. Severely 

 bruised — (Many small bruises or large bruises an inch or more in diameter); 3. Unde- 

 cayed skin breaks; 4. Decayed skin breaks. 



. . . the average grocer's display [of apples was found to contain the following:] 



Sound fruit 57.9% 



Slightly bruised 21.9 



Severely bruised 11 .4 



Skin breaks, undecayed 5.2 



Skin breaks, decayed 3.6 



. . . Since almost all of the fruit examined came either from the West Coast or from 

 Ohio, a check was made of the extent and type of damage prevalent on the fruit from 

 these two regions. 



Ohio Western 



Slightly bruised 20.2 24.1 



Severely bruised : 8.0 15.3 



Skin breaks 6.6 3.5 



Decayed skin breaks 4.4 2.7 



Sound 60.9 54.3 



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

 sures . . . Some boxes of fruit came through with very few if any pressure 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-grown 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 . . . 



