POTATO PESTS— PRE-COOLING OP FRUITS 



1731 



Remedies 



A well-planned rotation of crops, with 

 the object of getting as far as possible 

 from the grass family, is recommended. 



Traps, consisting of boards or stones 

 placed about the field with poison dain- 

 ties beneath them, snch as bran mash or 

 some sprayed succulent crop, are good. 



Salt, at the rate of from 250 to 500 

 pounds to the acre, or even in greater 

 amounts, is recommended by some of the 

 successful onion growers as an effective 

 remedy for wire worms No careful ex- 

 periments have so far been undertaken 

 by this station, however, and we cannot 

 commit ourselves as to the value of this 

 treatment. 



Pbaieie Apple. See Apple, Botany of, 



Pre-cooling of Fruits 



Pre-cooling is a term that is used to 

 designate the process of cooling fruits 

 before shipping. Every year adds to the 

 importance of this process. 



Mr A. V. Stubenrauch, expert of the 

 Department of Agriculture in charge of 

 storage investigations, says that pre-cool- 

 ing has become a very important factor 

 in the transportation of fruit. To the 

 grower and shipper it is important as a 

 means of extending the marketing area 

 of the product by assuring its delivery in 

 sound condition over long distances. To 

 the carrier the sound condition of the 

 fruit is an important consideration, but 

 mainly from the traflac standpoint. Pre- 

 cooled fruit may be loaded more closely 

 and heavily, thereby increasing the carry- 

 ing capacity of the cars, and less ice will 

 be consumed en route. But whether the 

 reduction of the initial temperature is 

 properly the function of the shipper or 

 the carrier is still an open question. 



As an adjunct to careful handling 

 in preparing fruits for market, pre-cool- 

 ing will materially assist in minimizing 

 losses from decay and deterioration in 

 transit. It is in no sense a panacea for 

 all the diflaculties of carrying fruits in 

 sound condition to distant markets. It 

 cannot improve the quality or condition 

 of the pioduct packed, and can only tem- 



porarily retard decay following injuries 

 made by rough handling, but it renders 

 unnecessary the packing of such fruit as 

 peaches, plums, and apricots in a hard, 

 green condition in order to offset the 

 ripening which takes place in cars under 

 ordinary icing methods. It reduces the 

 differences frequently occurring between 

 the top and bottom tiers of the load by 

 equalizing temperature conditions within 

 the car. 



Results of Pre-cooMng Experiments ob 

 Bartlett Pears in the Rogue River Val- 

 ley, Oregon— Season of ldl2. 



Two facts make this experiment of 

 great value to the pear growers of the 

 Rogue River valley. The first Is the ex- 

 tensive plantings which have been made 

 there. Fifty thousand acres represented 

 the area planted to pears in 1912, and 

 plantings were still being made. The 

 second is the fact that Rogue River pears 

 marketed during the first half of the sea- 

 son do not bring such high prices as 

 those marketed later, on account of com- 

 petition with California pears. 



These facts make it important that the 

 Rogue River pear season be extended ma- 

 terially; and the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry ^.uthorized an investigation of the 

 problem. 



The experiment covered 384 boxes of 

 Bartletts, taken from three different types 

 of soil. Four pickings were made, one 

 week apart, three weeks elapsing between 

 the date of the first and last pickings. 

 Half of each picking was pre-cooled, while 

 the other half was handled under average 

 commercial conditions. 



Results of the Experiments 



While it is realized that the work here 

 reported must be considered as only pre- 

 liminary, indicating the scope which 

 future investigations should follow, the 

 results were striking and consistent 

 throughout, and sufficient data are at 

 hand to warrant a full commercial test 

 and demonstration of this method of 

 marketing. Bartlett pears in the Pacific 

 Northwest. Further study is necessary in 

 order to determine the factors of seasonal 



