PACKING 



47 



Intensive efforts and investigations have been under way 

 for several years to devise solutions for the problem within 

 the financial means of the grower and not harmful to the fruit. 

 Further developments should be watched with interest in those 

 sections where spray residues constitute a serious problem. 



It has been established that dry wiping, whether by hand 

 or machine with brushes or otherwise, is not effective in remov- 

 ing more than one-third of the residue, even under the best 

 conditions. Considerable mechanical injury results, and the 

 residues in the blossom and stem ends cannot be removed in 

 this manner. 



(John Bean Mfg. Co.) 

 Fig. 27. A fruit washer (right) connected with the sizer. 



The most satisfactory method developed to date is to treat 

 the fruit (apples and pears) with a bath of dilute hydro- 

 chloric acid. Machines have been developed for this purpose 

 (Fig. 27), including satisfactory home-made machines. 



One type of machine sprays the fruit with diffused jets of 

 the solution as it passes through the spray chamber, rinsing the 

 fruit later with clear water and drying it with a forced draft 

 of air. A second type floats the fruit directly through the 

 solution, spraying the fruit from nozzles at the same time, 

 rinsing and drying later. Other types are in use. 



The commercial machines may be too expensive for the 

 small grower. Some home-made machines costing not more 



