bruising listed in order of importance were: size of bulge, poor sizing, place- 
ment, and alignment of the apples in the containers. The Washington State 
Apple Commission recommended that if a wooden box is used for a standard pack, 
the packs would be better with no bulge and with the boxes stacked upright 
rather than on end. To accomplish this change, the usual wooden box should be 
deeper and the labels would need to be a different dimension (116). 
A survey in Chicago in 1948 showed that a tray-pack in wooden boxes pro- 
duced the least damage from bruising (109). Further research in 1953 in Wash- 
ington State (115) showed that apples in fiber cartons reached retailers with 
far less damage than the average standard pack in wooden boxes. The carton 
resulted in practically no severe bruising, compared with 9 to 12 severely 
bruised apples per 100 when packed in wooden boxes. The number of apples that 
remained sound was almost twice as great in the fiber carton. They estimated 
that the carton saved about $80 per carload, or approximately $3 million per 
year, for the Washington State growers. 
In another set of trials in 1953, a wooden box fitted with corrugated 
liners and made three-fourths-inch deeper, but with the same dimensions as the 
fiber carton, carried apples equally as well as the fiber carton (116). Trials 
made with six sizes of bruise-free apples showed 24.9 percent bruising in flat- 
top ply-veneer boxes and 32.7 percent in the standard wooden box. 
The fiberboard carton, when jumble packed, was the most popular apple 
container received in Cleveland in 1953. Scott and Leed (89) reported that 40 
to 45 percent of the operators of both independent and chainstores expressed a 
preference for this carton because apples received in it were less bruised than 
apples that had been shipped in other containers. Bushel baskets were next 
most popular, and consumer packs were third. Fiberboard cartons have been gain- 
ing in popularity also in Russia (100) and in Sweden (72), due to less bruising 
than in wooden boxes. In 1963, O'Loughlin and Chapman (74) found that severe 
bruising of apples packed in fiberboard cartons averaged only 0.25 percent com- 
pared with 4.25 percent in wooden boxes. 
Egg-crate-type cells for individual apples are said to afford the maxi- 
mum protection against bruising and skin punctures (3, 30, 75, 85). Golden 
Delicious, plus thin-skin and easily-bruised apples, generally are packed in 
such cells to limit bruising (63). Different sizes of apples, however, require 
different sizes of shipping containers (99). This makes it difficult to stack 
the containers safely in cars, trucks, or warehouses (28). O'Loughlin and 
Chapman (74) found no significant differences in bruising of apples in cell- 
pack and tray-pack cartons. 
One firm in Australia has used 1/2-ton bulk containers for exporting 
apples to large chainstores. Among 250 tons so shipped in 1958, the incidence 
or bruising was reported to be only 3/4 of 1 percent (41). 
Consumer Packages 
The placing of apples in consumer packages once was done only by re- 
tailers or within packaging plants located at or near terminal markets. This 
work now is being done to some extent also at shipping points. This may have 
increased the bruising of apples in some instances. Suggested remedies include 
that prepackaging equipment be more skillfully designed (18) and that all 
packaging operations be performed with increased care (16). 
Shadburne (90) observed in 1959 that bruising of apples was four times 
as great in bagged apples as when each apple was packed in an individual cell. 
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