SPOILAGE OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 



51 



A summary of all pepper inspections is found in table 33. Decay 

 per carlot inspected ranged from 0.5 to 4.6 percent and averaged 3.6 

 percent for the entire 7-year period. Half of it was due to bacterial 

 soft rot. The least decay was found in peppers from Texas and the 

 most in those from California. 



Potatoes 



Approximately 150,000 carlots of potatoes were unloaded during 

 1936-42, the years when inspections were made. Rail shipments 

 comprised 50 percent of the total. About 95 percent of the rail 

 shipments originated in the States covered by the present inspections. 

 Truck shipments from a number of States, chiefly from New York 

 (Long Island), New Jersey, and Virginia, constituted 45 percent; 

 boat shipments, chiefly from Florida, accounted for the remaining 5 

 percent. 



Inspections were made on 2,534 carlots, or 3 percent of all rail 

 unloads. Distribution of decay 21 within them was as follows: 





Carlots i 



n indicated 





Carlots in 



indicated 





decay class 



Decay class (percent)— 



decay class 



ecay class (percent): 



Number 



Percent 



Number 



Percent 







1,428 



56.4 



Continued 







Trace-4 



980 



38.7 



35-39 



4 



0.2 



5-9 



80 



3.2 



40-44 



1 



Trace 



10-14 



22 



.9 



45-49 











15-19 ._ 



9 



.4 



50-54 











20-24 



4 



.2 



55-59 



1 



Trace 



25-29 



4 



.2 



60-64 



1 



Trace 



30-34 

















Decay, averaging 2.4 percent per carlot showing decay, was found 

 in 1,106 carlots, or 44 percent of those inspected. Distribution of 

 decay by types was as follows: 





Distribution 





Distribution 







Average 



Average 





Carlots 



per carlot 





Carlots per carlot 



Kind of decay: 



(number) 



(percent) 



Kind of decay — Con. 



(number) (percent) 



Bacterial soft rot__ 



1,053 



2.3 



Brown sunken 





Late blight rot 



48 



1. 7 



areas 



6 5.5 



Sclerotium rot 



39 



1.8 



Heat injury (scald) _ 



5 2.4 



Fusarium rot 



22 



1.4 



Other decay 



10 1. 2 



A summary of all potato inspections is presented in table 34. It 

 will be noted that the study covers chiefly early-crop potatoes; in 

 fact only 11 carlots of Maine potatoes were included, although from 

 5,000 to 9,000 rail carlots were unloaded annually from that State. 

 Likewise, Idaho was only poorly represented and none from New 

 York was included. 



Decay per carlot inspected ranged from 0.5 to 2.2 percent annually 

 and averaged 1.0 percent for the entire period; practically all was 

 bacterial soft rot. For the States represented by 100 or more carlots, 

 decay was lowest in those from California and highest in those from 

 South Carolina. When all States were considered, decay was lowest 

 in carlots from Idaho and greatest in those from Texas. 



21 Heat injury and brown sunken areas included with decay. 



