HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 



41 



show bruising much more readily than red or striped varieties although 

 actually they may not be bruised to any greater extent. Consequently, 

 they have to be handled much more carefully if the appearance of the 

 apples is not to be affected. 



Table 5. — Characteristics of principal commercial 



varieties of apples. 



Variety 



Color 



Principal use 



Flesh 

 when 

 ripe 



Marketing season 



Yellow Transpar- 

 ent. 



Gravenstein 



Wealthy _ 



Yellow_ . 



Striped. _ 

 Red 



___do_-__ 



Yellow. _ 

 Red 



_._do____ 

 Green 



Yellow__ 



Red 



___do_.__ 

 ___do____ 

 ___do____ 



Green or 

 yellow. 



Red 



Cooking 



Eating and cooking. 

 ____do 



____do 



_-_-do 



____do 



Eating 



Cooking 



Eating and cooking- 

 Cooking 



Soft 



___do 



___do 



_-_do 



Firm 



___do 



__.do 



___do 



___do 



Hard 



Firm 



___do 



___do 



Hard 



_-.do 



July to August. 



July to September. 

 September to De-- 



Mcintosh 



Grimes Golden 



Jonathan 



Delicious 



Rhode Island 



Greening. 

 Golden Delicious. 



York Imperial 



Stayman Winesap 



Baldwin 



Rome Beauty 



Yellow Newtown _ 



Winesap 



cember. 



September to Jan- 

 uary. 

 Do. 



September to Feb- 

 ruary. 



September to April. 



October to March. 



October to April. 

 October to March. 



Eating and cooking- 



-•___do 



Cooking 



Eating and cooking. 



-__-do 



November to April. 



Do. 

 November to May. 

 January to June. 



Do. 







The marketing season indicated for the varieties in table 5 is the 

 period during which commercial supplies should be at their best. If put 

 on the market earlier the apples are likely to be unsatisfactory either 

 because of immaturity (being picked too soon) or because they have 

 not had a chance to ripen sufficiently. If they are offered later than 

 their normal marketing season they may still be in good condition and 

 may still give consumer satisfaction if they have received exceptional 

 care in handling and storage, but the hazards of their soon becoming 

 overripe or of quick breakdown are greatly increased. Much of the 

 complaint about overripeness in apples is due to their being stored be- 

 yond their normal marketing season. 



THE INDUSTRY'S RESPONSIBILITY 



The most practical approach to the problem of getting good apples; 

 to the consumer seems to lie in a close coordination of all elements 

 in the industry to apply good handling methods at all times during 

 the marketing process. Success of any such effort will doubtless require 

 the initiative to be taken by apple producers and shippers. They are 

 not only the most immediately concerned but also have the requisite 

 knowledge and appreciation of the technical requirements for handling 

 the apple. Their business is often tied up closely with apples alone, 

 whereas to others in the trade apples are only one item of merchandise. 

 Success of such an undertaking depends also on sustained industry-wide- 



