8 



BULLETIN 1406, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



picking season has been determined to a limited extent. Burroughs 

 (Ji) reported that Wagener apples at Canton, Pa., softened only 

 very slightly between September 23 and October 13, 1922, and then 

 showed a marked softening before October 24. Hartman (9) re- 

 ports that in Grimes Golden, Jonathan, and Ortley apples grown 

 in western Oregon the rate of softening just prior to picking time as 

 measured by mechanical tests was not sufficiently rapid to be a satis- 

 factory index of picking maturity. Magness and Diehl (11) in 

 1922 found a rather rapid softening in Winesap, Ben Davis, and 

 Kome Beauty apples at Rosslyn during the last month of the 

 ripening season on the trees, whereas Delicious showed much less 

 rapid softening. One of the authors (12) in a preliminary report 

 showed the softening rates of several varieties in different sections 

 of the country during the fall of 1923. 



Figures 1 to 9 show graphically the rates of softening of some of 

 the different varieties under observation at the various stations 



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Fig. 3. — Change in firmness of flesh and size of Baldwin apples, 1923 



during the years 1923 and 1924. It is at once apparent that there is 

 a marked variation in the softening rate of different varieties and also 

 for the same variety under different growing conditions. 



Fruit at Rosslyn during 1923 appeared to be distinctly softer 

 throughout the growing season than the same varieties grown in the 

 more northern latitudes. The blooming season at Rosslyn in 1923 

 occurred the last week in April, while at Amherst and East Lan- 

 sing full bloom was reported on May 23. Considering that the dif- 

 ferent varieties were one month more advanced at Rosslyn than in 

 ,the northern sections, it is still apparent that the fruit at Rosslyn 

 was much softer. For example, on August 7 Winesap at Rosslyn 

 registered on pressure testing under 24 pounds, whereas on Septem- 

 ber 7 at East Lansing the Winesap tested almost 29 pounds. The 

 Michigan fruit on September 7 was considerably larger than that 

 in Virginia on August 7. Similarly, Baldwins at Rosslyn on August 

 7 were markedly softer than Baldwins from Michigan, Ohio, or 



