2 CIRCULAR 773, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DECAY AND OTHER SPOILAGE of such perishable commodi- 

 ties as fresh fruits and vegetables between the times of harvest 

 or of preparation for market and of arrival at the terminal market 

 have been even less adequately summarized than have the crop losses 

 caused by pathogens in fields and orchards. A good source of infor- 

 mation on the amount of decay in shipments upon arrival at terminal 

 markets is the iuspection certificates issued by the Fruit and Vege- 

 table Branch, Production and Marketing Administration, United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 2 Certain of these inspection 

 certificates have been summarized for apples, 3 stone fruits, 4 straw- 

 berries, 5 6 and tomatoes. 7 



These summaries, although limited to a few commodities, are an 

 important contribution to the knowledge on market losses. As 

 pointed out by several of the writers, however, there is a natural 

 tendency for inspections to be requested on carlo ts that show evidence 

 of decay rather than on those that seem to be in good condition. 



In 1931 a group of produce dealers in New York City formed an 

 organization known as the Western Perishable Carload Receivers' 

 Association of New York, Inc. An agreement between it and the 

 United States Department of Agriculture whereby all carlots of prod- 

 uce received by the members were inspected on arrival by the Fed- 

 eral inspectors was in effect from 1931 until midsummer of 1942. 

 During that period membership in the Association averaged about 

 15, but it varied through the years because a few dealers dropped out 

 and others joined. The resulting certificates, therefore, covered a 

 wide variety of fruits and vegetables. For most of the commodities 

 they represent an unselected cross section or true random sample of 

 all rail shipments of these commodities unloaded at New York City. 

 There are some exceptions, however, because the carlots inspected of 

 some commodities originated chiefly from certain States rather than 

 from all States making rail shipments to the New York City market. 



MATERIAL AND METHODS 

 Basic Material 



Only the inspections carried out under the agreement mentioned 

 above were analyzed. The period covered was from July 1, 

 1935, to August 1, 1942 (hereafter referred to as the 7-year period). 

 For certain commodities not inspected every year, the period covered 

 was less than 7 years. 



2 Formerly Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Inspection Service, Bureau of Agricul- 

 tural Economics. 



3 Rose, D. H. diseases of apples on the market. U. S. Dept. Agr. Dept. 

 Bui. 1253, 24 pp., illus. 1924. 



4 Brooks, C. spoilage of stone fruits on the market. U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Cir. 253, 12 pp., illus. 1933. 



5 Rose, D. H. diseases of strawberries on the market. U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Dept. Cir. 402, 8 pp., illus. 1926. 



6 Stevens, N. E. market diseases of stratvberries from the south- 

 eastern states, 1926 to 1930. U. S. Dept. Agr. Cir. 219, 4 pp. 1932. 



7 Stevens, N. E., and Nance, N. W. spoilage of tomatoes in transit, as 

 shown by inspection certificates, 1922 to 1930. U. S. Dept. Agr. Cir. 245, 

 4 pp. 1932. 



