4 MISC. PUBLICATION 168, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



It is highly important also that packing houses, their machinery, 

 and their immediate surroundings be kept free of all cut, mashed, 

 or decaying fruits and of all other fruits culled out of the pack 

 for any reason. A few apples or pears affected with blue mold 

 rot or gray mold rot, if run through grading machines or left 

 lying on the floor in out-of-the-way places, can produce enough 

 spores to make them a serious source of danger to all the fruits 

 that pass through the house. Stacks of field boxes filled with 

 rotting culls give off spores to every wind that blows over them. 

 If they stand inside the packing house or even though outside 

 near doorways, they mean trouble. The safest procedure is to get 

 them away from the house as soon as possible and to clean up 

 the grading machinery, the bins, and the packing-house floor at 

 least once every day. It is desirable to have the floor of the house 

 tight, to keep mashed and decaying fruit from dropping through 

 to the ground below and there becoming a source of fungus 

 infection. 



When apples, pears, and quinces arrive on the market the 

 job of getting them to the consumer in attractive, edible form 

 is only partly done. From the time they are taken out of a car 

 or truck until they are carried into someone's kitchen they need 

 as much care and attention as was expended on them in a well- 

 managed packing house at the shipping point. However, judging 

 from what can be seen in almost any grocery store or market one 

 can safely say that they do not always receive such care. 



A few general recommendations that are applicable to all three 

 kinds of fruits can be made. 



The filled packages and the fruit after being unpacked should 

 be handled carefully at all times. This avoids bruising, which 

 makes the fruit unattractive and may lead to decay before the 

 fruit finally reaches the consumer. Bruises are often the most 

 common cause of complaint among retail customers. Blue mold 

 rot is particularly likely to get started at cuts and bruises, and 

 it can develop rapidly at temperatures commonly occurring in the 

 receivers' storerooms or in grocery stores and markets. Slam- 

 ming packages into place in a stack, a truck, or a store is decidedly 

 bad practice. So also is walking on top of packages. 



Fruit should be protected from summer temperatures by keep- 

 ing it in the shade whenever possible. Placing it in a show window 

 where it gets full sun for part of the day is a sure way to hasten 

 overripeness and decay. 



If a carload of fruit showing signs of freezing arrives on the 

 market, there are several possible ways in which it may be han- 

 dled, although the receiver may not always be free to choose the 

 one he will use. In many instances he can do nothing but unload 

 the fruit and put it into trade channels. On the other hand, he 

 may be able to leave it in the car to thaw out naturally because 

 of moderate outside temperatures or he may raise the car tem- 

 perature by placing heaters in the car when the outside tem- 

 perature remains below 32° F. If heaters are used they should 

 be operated to produce moderate heat. As a third choice, he may 

 unload the fruit and take it to a warehouse or store and leave 

 it to thaw slowly. 



