percent. Wright and Smith (122) noted that bruised late-harvested Delicious 
apples may be three times as prone to decay as early-harvested apples. 
Studies in Michigan in 1951 compared the differences in care in handling 
2 1/2-inch McIntosh apples during farm operations. Care in handling reduced 
bruising sixteenfold in picking the apples, twelvefold in dumping them into 
field crates, fourfold in dumping them onto the receiving belt, and fivefold in 
packaging them for market (38, 114). Woodward (119) found similar results. 
Smith and Wright (91) estimated “that picking caused about 10 percent of the 
total bruising of apples; Van Waes (104) thought the amount to be about 25 per- 
cent. 
Considerable difference in picking skill exists among workers (108). In 
a study by Smith and Wright (91) one orchard averaged 2 percent bruising, and 
three other orchards averaged 12 to 14 percent. The fastest picker was not al- 
ways the best one. One picker harvested seven times as much fruit as another 
picker, but he also bruised the apples seven times as much. In another study, 
apples of the poorest picker showed 497 bruises per 100 apples; the best picker 
had only 17 (91). The best orchard averaged 37 bruises per 100 apples, and the 
poorest averaged 398. Care in handling can reduce bruising to at least one- 
third the usual amount (105). Gaston and Levin (38) found that careful picking 
reduced bruises from 81 to 17 percent. 
A study in 1948 at Wenatchee, Wash., showed that if the extra apples 
with severe bruises caused by poor pickers were sorted out as culls, it cost 
the average grower $78 an acre to use poor pickers (108). Unless the apples 
with severe bruises were sorted out as culls, a shorter storage life and more 
decay could be expected. When the retailer or consumer has to throw bruised 
apples away, the poor pickers cost $191 per acre because freight and packing 
costs have been added. If the difference between severe bruising among the 
orchards studied in this survey was due to supervision, the poor supervision 
cost an average of $87 per acre. One less severely bruised apple per box will 
more than pay for a bonus to the picker and the cost of a checker (108). 
To reduce bruising of apples during picking, the Washington State Apple 
Commission produced a movie for instructing pickers (113). To test the probable 
value of the film, some inexperienced pickers were divided into two groups. 
Only one group was shown the film on "Apple Picking Pointers."' The group that 
saw the film picked apples with 59 percent less bruising than the group who did 
not see the film. A survey among growers indicated that pickers who use the 
best techniques also pick 50 percent more fruit (112). 
Picking two apples with one hand may result in a bruise where the apples 
touch and where pressure is applied by the fingers (108). Pickers, sorters, 
and packers should wear gloves or trim their fingernails closely to prevent 
fingernail punctures. Women more often wear gloves than men do. This in part 
may account for the 50 percent less bruises and punctures on apples picked by 
women than on those picked by men. However, men pick from ladders to a greater 
extent (119), and these always cause some bruising of fruits. Other picking 
pointers include the picking bags should not be filled too full or allowed to 
bump against the ladder, the boxes, or any hard object. 
Bruising frequently results from carelessness in transferring apples to 
the picking bag. Gaston and Levin (38) reported that it is not uncommon for 
pickers to drop almost all of the fruit from, or above, the top edge of the 
picking container. The lower layers in the container were most bruised; the 
top layers were least bruised. To reduce bruising in transferring fruit to 
field boxes, it is recommended that the bag be lowered into the box, then drawn 
gently upward and away (28). 
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