RIPENING, STORAGE, AND HANDLING OF APPLES 17 



fundamental importance in determining the time of picking. Under 

 certain conditions the fruit begins to drop very badly before it 

 is sufficiently matured to be of the best quality or to be the most 

 satisfactory for storage. For example, some varieties, such as York 

 Imperial and Baldwin, in many instances will have to be picked 

 because of excessive dropping when the apples are still so immature 

 that storage scald will develop excessively. On the other hand, 

 apples of other varieties, particularly Jonathan, will often adhere 

 to the tree until they have gone well by the optimum picking con- 

 dition, thus developing internal breakdown and other storage 

 troubles. On the whole, however, the tenacity with which apples 

 adhere to the tree is a most important index to their maturity con- 

 dition, and with most varieties constitutes a safe guide to time of 

 picking. 



COLOR OF SEEDS 



The column of Table 3 headed " Number of days after seeds 

 became brown " refers to the days which have elapsed between the 

 time when the seeds were full brown and that in which the fruit was 

 in optimum picking condition. 



As the seeds color they first become brown at the tip, then pass 

 through a half-brown condition, and finally are uniformly colored 

 light broAvn. Following this, they gradually darken until usually 

 they attain a dark-brown color in the well-matured apple. The 

 number of days elapsing between the time when the seeds were 

 completely light brown in color and the time the fruit is in picking 

 condition is recorded in column 10. 



Apparently there is a wide variation between the different va- 

 rieties in the length of time following full color of the seeds before 

 the fruit is in optimum picking condition. With Grimes Golden 3 

 to 25 days elapsed, generally about 15 days; Delicious ranged from 

 14 to 44 days, averaging about 20 days; Baldwin ranged from 6 to 

 25 days, averaging about 15 days. Winesap showed a minimum of 

 34 days and a maximum of 56 days, generally requiring 40 clays 

 or more after the seeds were brown to attain maturity. In many 

 instances Winesap seeds were actually more completely colored and 

 darker by the middle of September than were Delicious, Grimes 

 Golden, or Jonathan seeds on the same date. The wide variation 

 existing in the different varieties and in the same variety under 

 different growing conditions indicates that little dependence can be 

 placed on this factor as a picking test for winter apples. 



LENGTH OF GROWING SEASON 



The length of the growing season was briefly discussed in connec- 

 tion with the dropping of the fruit. In columns 2, 3, 4, and 5 of 

 Table 3 are reported the blooming dates, the optimum picking dates, 

 the number of days intervening, and the average mean daily tem- 

 perature for the growing season at the different stations. It is evi- 

 dent from these data that there is a marked variation in the length 

 of the growing season for the different varieties and in certain cases 

 a considerable variation in the same variety, depending upon where 

 it is grown. 



82956—26 3 



