The 13 test loads from regular storage included 10 from Ayer, Mass., and 

 3 from Turner and Sanford, Me. The 8 controlled-atmosphere storage loads 

 consisted of 4 from Ayer, Mass., and 4 from Auburn and Turner, Me. The number 

 of fiberboard boxes in the 13 regular storage loads ranged from 640 to 768, 

 and averaged 711. For the 8 controlled-atmosphere storage loads the range 

 was from 586 to 731 with an average of 665. The 21 test loads combined had 

 an average of 694 boxes per load, ranging from 586 to 768 boxes per load. 



Test Procedures 



To obtain an accurate check on the fruit bruising in transit, seven 

 placarded sample boxes were placed in each test truckload of apples at the 

 shipping point as follows: One box in the bottom layer and one in the third 

 or middle layer of the first stack (counting from the front of the vehicle) ; 

 one box in the bottom layer and one in the third or middle layer of the middle 

 stack (usually the eleventh); and one box in the bottom layer, one in the 

 third or middle layer, and one in the top layer of the last stack (at the rear 

 of load). The location of the sample boxes in different test loads in each 

 layer of each stack could be varied crosswise of the trailer van as long as 

 the specified stack and layer locations were adhered to. 



Two types of fiberboard containers were used in the shipping tests. One 

 container was the cell -pack box which had each apple in an individual cell and 

 contained 80, 96, 120, 140, or 160 apples in four layers separated by fiber- 

 board pads. There were 20, 24, 30, 35, or 40 apples per layer, depending 

 upon the size of the boxes and the fruit (fig. 1). The other type, known as 

 the master container, carried either one layer of nine 4-pound plastic film 

 bags each in a separate cell or twelve 3-pound plastic film bags in three 

 layers separated by fiberboard pads, four cells per layer with one 3-pound 

 bag in each cell (figs. 2 and 3). The tests included apples from regular cold 

 storage and from controlled-atmosphere storage. 



The sample boxes were inspected in Maine and Massachusetts by personnel 

 of the Federal-State Inspection Services in those States, and in Florida by 

 personnel of the Fresh Products Standardization and Inspection Branch of the 

 Agricultural Marketing Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture. The infor- 

 mation obtained was recorded on special inspection forms similar to those 

 used by the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station in a previous study of 

 apple containers. 1/ 



After inspection of the sample boxes at the shipping point, any bruised 

 fruit found in the sample-box cells or plastic film bags designated on the 

 recording forms was replaced with bruise-free fruit from nonsample cells or 

 bags in the same or other containers. At destination all the fruit in each 

 sample box, including that in both the sample and nonsample cells or bags, 

 was inspected. The bruising data resulting from the inspections at origin 

 and destination were entered on the special inspection forms by cell or bag 



17 Perkins, F. A. Apple Marketing Study for 1957. Maine Agr. Expt. Sta., 

 Univ. Maine, Dept. Agr. Econ., April 26, 1957. 



- 7 ' - 



