Comin and Ting (10) reported that Rome Beauty apples scalded severely 
when harvested before 160 days after bloom in Ohio and that the incidence 
dropped 20 to 80 percent when fruit were picked one week later. Optimum har- 
vest in this case was as given by Haller and Magness (26). 
Rollins and Mattus (68) considered one of the better guides to harvest 
at optimum maturity to be the number of days after full bloom. Full bloom in 
this case is taken as the day on which petals are dropping from the center 
blossoms. They suggested a schedule for a number of varieties grown in the 
Virginia apple region as to their requirements for days after full bloom for 
moderately bearing trees. Generally, their suggested dates for optimum 
maturity were 2 to 5 days later for Jonathan, Grimes Golden, Delicious, Golden 
Delicious, and Stayman than suggested by Haller and Magness (26). The number 
of days from full bloom to optimum maturity for York Imperial, Rome Beauty, 
and Winesap were 5 to 10 days earlier than Haller and Magness' suggestions. 
The differences in elapsed time suggested by these workers may have been due 
to date at which full bloom was set for the varieties as well as the specifi- 
city of the Rollins and Mattus data for the Virginia area, whereas Haller and 
Magness' results were based on a broader spectrum of locations. 
Climatic Conditions 
Temperature and other climatic conditions have often been considered to 
influence maturation. Indeed, some workers have put considerable emphasis on 
certain factors such as rainfall, mean temperatures, and solar radiation. 
Ignatius and DeWitt (31) proposed that the size of an apple crop could 
be calculated before harvesttime by a regression equation having the following 
variants: (1) Difference in rainfall between two critical periods (July 12- 
August 10 and June 10-June 30) in the year preceding harvest; (2) the minimum 
temperature during blossoming in the year of harvest; and (3) the total number 
of hours of sunshine after blossoming during the period May 20-June 10. 
Haller and Smith (27) reported that temperature apparently has less 
effect on the development and time of maturation of apples than might be 
expected. There was some indication that heavy rainfall or ample moisture, 
particularly late in the season, may delay the time at which fruit becomes 
resistant to storage scald and thus increase the period from bloom to maturity 
with scald-susceptible varieties, 
Fisher and Smith (20) stated that picking date would probably have to 
be advanced with a light crop or exceptionally warm weather after bloom; con- 
versely, that a heavy crop or cold weather after bloom was likely to delay 
date of picking, 
Smock (74) reported that high soluble solids in McIntosh fruit at har- 
vest were more strongly correlated with solar radiation during the later part 
of the growing season than during entire growing season. He also stated that 
a high degree of susceptibility to brown core in McIntosh was associated with 
low solar radiation and low mean temperature during the last 6 weeks of growing 
season, Susceptibility to scald seemed associated with high mean temperatures 
during the last 6 weeks of growing season for both McIntosh and Rhode Island 
varieties, 
Tukey (83), while studying the effect of night temperatures on the 
growth of fruit bearing branches of McIntosh enclosed in heated chambers, 
found that night temperatures of approximately 81° F. appeared most favorable 
for enlargement of fruit within 4 days after petal fall, approximately 72° 
