40 



CIRCULAR 659, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



amined the fruit in original containers just as it was delivered to the 

 store and also some of the same lots as they were displayed for sale. 

 His findings (table 4) show that, although handling in the store increased 

 the damage considerably, most of the bruising was present when the 

 apples were unpacked. 



Table 4. — Condition of apples before they were unpacked and after display 



for sale 



Variety 



Sound in 

 original 

 package 



Jonathan 



Golden Delicious 



Baldwin 



Greening 



Sound when 

 on display 



Percent 



54 

 48 

 43 

 56 



Crandall's results are in general agreement with those reported by 

 Kross and Slamp (14), who made a somewhat similar study in New 

 Jersey. They found that 42 percent of the apples on display in the retail 

 stores they surveyed showed old bruises and only 8 percent had fresh 

 bruises as the result, apparently, of handling in the stores. 



If the retailer would give his trade the kind of apples that will stimu- 

 late demand, he must consider the variety as well as grade and condi- 

 tion. In order to make even such a rough classification as eating apples 

 and cooking apples, as is frequently done in grocery stores, the dealer 

 needs to know something about the principal commercial varieties so 

 that, for example, Rome Beauty, York Imperial, or even Ben Davis 

 will not be offered as eating apples or Delicious as a good baking apple 

 because it has good size. He also needs to know when each is in season. 

 It is not uncommon to find Jonathans and Winesaps offered together. 

 In the fall only the former could give satisfaction, but in late spring the 

 Winesap would be preferred. 



While upward of 200 varieties of apples are grown in the United 

 States, only 15 are commercially important (table 5). Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin 1883 (Id) gives more information on apple varieties. 



Some of the varieties listed in table 5 are good both for eating out of 

 hand and for making sauce, pie, and other dishes; others are best adapted 

 to one or the other of these uses. Yellow Transparent, for example, is too 

 acid to please most people for eating out of hand, but it is one of the 

 best for making sauce and pie. Delicious, on the other hand, is too lack- 

 ing in acidity for cooking, but is the leader for the fruit-stand trade. 



The character of the flesh of a variety when ripe is an important con- 

 sideration for all handlers of apples, for, in general, it indicates the sus- 

 ceptibility of the fruit to bruising and how it will withstand handling, 

 especially in bulk or in the retailer's bins. Important in this connection 

 also is the color of the fruit. Apples listed as soft in table 5 are most 

 likely to become badly bruised, while those listed as hard are less likely 

 to be damaged by ordinary handling. Those marked firm are inter- 

 mediate in this respect. As a rule, varieties that are solid yellow or green 



