RIPENING, STORAGE, AND HANDLING OF APPLES 3 



Increase in the size of the fimit. — In each orchard 100 apples of 

 each variety were selected, tagged, numbered, and the largest radial 

 circumference measured in centimeters at the beginning of the test. 

 These apples were remeasured at 10-day intervals to determine the 

 growth increment. Thus, the rate of growth and the length of time 

 growth continues have been determined. Individual apples that 

 dropped prior to the last measurement were eliminated from all 

 averages. 



Hardness of the fruit. — A mechanical tester similar in essential 

 details to that described by Murneek (15) 2 for determining the hard- 

 ness of the fruit was used. The number of pounds pressure required 

 to force a smoothly rounded plunger seven-sixteenths inch in diameter 

 into the fruit to a depth of five-sixteenths inch was determined. The 

 tests were made with the peel intact and with the peel removed, but 

 since the latter tests are considered the more reliable all the data pre- 

 sented on hardness of the fruit are based on tests directly on the 

 flesh of the apple (with the peel removed). In most cases 30 rep- 

 resentative apples of each variety were used for each test, and three 

 individual tests were made about the radial circumference of each 

 apple. These 90 tests have been averaged to represent the pressure 

 tests, i. e., hardness of the fruit on the different dates. 



Changes in the ground color or color of the unblushed portion of 

 the fi^uit. — In order to determine the changes in the ground color 

 of the fruit from week to week, a chart was made up, representing 

 as nearly as possible the color changes through which the unblushed 

 portion of most apple varieties pass as they approach maturity on 

 the tree. A reproduction of the chart used is shown as Plate I. The 

 exact colors in different varieties of apples vary greatly, but by 

 comparison with the chart the ground color of the fruit at any- 

 particular time could be fairly accurately placed. Instead of 

 attempting to describe the color, the fruit was designated by its chart 

 number according to the shade most nearly represented. Thus, No. 

 1 represents a very green shade and Nos. 2, 3, and 4 represent suc- 

 cessive stages of yellowing; fruit falling between Nos. 2 and 3, for 

 example, is called 2%. Similar charts were used in all districts, so 

 that the color comparisons are believed to be accurate and directly 

 comparable. 



Increase in the blushed surface of the fruit. — Careful estimates 

 of the area of the blushed surface of the 30 apples used for testing 

 were made at each testing date. The averages presented give a 

 fairly good indication of the change in blushed surface from time 

 to time in the different sections. 



Change in the color of the seed. — The color of the seeds was noted 

 when the different tests were made. The time of turning brown and 

 when full light brown are the really definite points in seed-color 

 change and have been particularly noted. 



Ease of separation from the spur and extent of dropping. — Gen- 

 eral notes were made on the ease of separation of the fruit from 

 the spur and on the extent of natural dropping from the tree at the 

 time of the different tests. 



2 Numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to "Literature cited," p. 64. 



