RIPENING, STORAGE, AND HANDLING OF APPLES 27 



the Potomac River from Washington, D. C, or in the commercial 

 apple districts of Virginia. During 1923 attempts were made to 

 ship fruit from the Pacific Northwest and also from New York 

 State, but the apples ripened so much in transit that the data ob- 

 tained were not considered entirely reliable. During the season of 

 1924r-25, however, certain varieties of apples grown in New York 

 State and at Wenatchee, Wash., were held in storage at 32° F. in 

 these two districts and the softening rate determined at this tem- 

 perature. Thus it was possible to compare to a certain extent the 

 rate of softening of the leading commercial varieties as grown in the 

 different districts while in storage at 32°. At Wenatchee, tests were 

 also made of the rate of softening of a number of varieties when 

 held at 70°. 



Pressure tests were made throughout the season both with the peel 

 intact and with the peel removed, or directly on the exposed flesh 

 of the apple. Magness and Taylor (13) have recently shown, however, 

 that testing apples with the peel intact tends to mask the actual soften- 

 ing of the flesh, since the presence of the skin makes a far greater 

 difference in the testing of soft fruit than in the testing of similar 

 varieties while in a firm condition. Consequently, only tests on the 

 exposed flesh of the fruit are here reported. 



RATES OF SOFTENING AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES 



The rates of softening of a large number of commercial varieties 

 of apples when held continuously at 32° F. are shown in Figure 10. 

 The data show that in general the apples which are hardest at pick- 

 ing time remain firmest throughout the storage season. Certain vari- 

 eties, including Winesap, Arkansas (Mammoth Black Twig), York 

 Imperial, and Yellow Newtown as grown in Virginia, were fairly 

 firm at the time of picking and softened slowly, so that even by 

 March 1 if held continuous^ at 32° F. they were hardly soft enough 

 to be considered in prime eating condition. Other varieties, including 

 Rome Beauty, Stayman Winesap, Ben Davis, and King David as 

 grown in Virginia, were somewhat softer at the time of picking and 

 softened at about the same rate as the first group. Consequently, 

 these varieties were in prime eating condition by the last of January, 

 even when held continuously at a temperature of 32°. At this tem- 

 perature, however, they remained in fairly firm condition without 

 becoming mealy until well into March. Although fairly firm at time 

 of picking, Grimes Golden apples grown in Virginia softened rather 

 rapidly and were full eating ripe early in December, whereas Mc- 

 intosh apples as grown in Virginia were very soft when picked the 

 middle of September and were full eating ripe by the latter part of 

 November. 



As was brought out in Part I of this bulletin, the apples grown in 

 the more northern districts are considerably firmer at time of pick- 

 ing, even though the picking season is considerably later. Figure 11 

 shows Stark, Tompkins King, Rome Beauty, and Baldwin apples 

 picked and stored at Hall, N. Y., and held continuously at 32° F. 

 Stark and Tompkins King were harder at time of picking than 

 most of the Virginia varieties, whereas Baldwin from New York 

 was approximately the same as Yellow Newtown and Winesap from 



