HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 



29 



Figure 14. — Bruised apples from overfilled standard box, like those in figure 15: A, 

 Severely bruised top layer, which could have been protected by a pad; B, second 

 layer showing outlines of bad bruises caused by pressure of first layer that was in- 

 creased by uneven sizing of the fruit; C, side layer showing bruises caused by stacking 

 boxes on bulged sides. 



Close sizing of the fruit and place packing, or regular alinement, of 

 the fruit in the box are important in reducing the number of bruised 

 apples in a pack (fig. 14). Western packs, as a rule, are superior to 

 eastern packs, because the western packers use mechanical sizing ma- 

 chines, so that variations of more than one-fourth of an inch in the di- 

 ameter of apples in a package are rare. Fruit of each size is packed 

 according to a mathematical pattern. Also, each apple is wrapped 

 separately,, a protection against bruising. Eastern packers, on the 

 other hand, often separate their apples into two sizes only — those larger 

 and those smaller than a certain minimum, usually 2^, 2%, or 3 inches 

 in diameter. They may face their packages with apples of approxi- 

 mately the same size, but the jumble fill makes possible a good deal of 

 bruising, because the apples are not definitely placed and also because 

 of the uneven pressure of one apple against another that results when 

 apples of different sizes are packed together. 



Studies by the United States Department of Agriculture show the 

 effect of packing on the bruising of the fruit (table 3). Apples from the 



Table 3. — Comparison of bruising of Stay man Winesap apples packed in 



standard apple box (northwestern box) 



and iy^-bushel eastern crate 







Apples badly bruised — 



Package 



Against each 

 other 



Against 

 package 



Standard box _ _ __ 



Percent 



4 

 12 



Percent 



1 14 



13^-bushel eastern crate __ 



2 29 







1 The distribution of this bruising was as follows: Top and bottom layers (against 

 padded lids), 1 percent; sides and ends (no pads but paper liners over sides), 13 percent. 



2 The distribution of this bruising was as follows: Top layer (against pad), 1 per- 

 cent; bottom layer (no pad), 12 percent; sides and ends (cardboard liners but no pads), 

 16 percent. 



