CRANBERRY DISEASES ON THE PACIFIC COAST 19 
On January 14, 1924, when the first lot was taken out of storage, all 
the samples were sound enough to be sold without remilling, although 
Cape Cod Beauty, Centennial, and unsprayed McFarlin were begin- 
ning to decay rather badly. On the other hand, the checks were 
not in decidedly poorer condition, showing only from 3 per cent to 11 
per cent more rot than the cold-storage berries. Three months later 
none of the lots withdrawn were salable, while the margin between 
cold-storage samples and their checks varied from 11 per cent in the 
unsprayed McFarlin to 28 per cent in the Cape Cod Beauty. At 
the end of nine months the cold-storage sample of sprayed McFar- 
lin was still in fair condition, as were the check berries of this lot, 
considering the length of time they had been held. The check lot of 
Bennett was almost as good, but the cold-storage lot was not much 
better than its check. 
Under the temperature conditions prevailing in the test, rot devel- 
oped so badly even in two or three months that poor-keeping berries 
would require remilling before being marketed. To be effective the 
temperature would have to be kept lower than was the case here, but 
whether or not a lower temperature would prove entirely satisfactory 
remains to be determined. 
RELATION OF WEATHER TO KEEPING QUALITY 
In the foregoing discussion of field diseases emphasis is frequently 
placed upon the relation of favorable weather conditions to the prev- 
alence of the disease under consideration. Later it was pointed out 
that infection by storage-rot fungi takes place in the field. It is 
natural to infer, then, that the degree of infection in the latter case is 
likewise dependent to some degree upon the weather and that cran- 
berries will consequently develop more storage rot in some seasons 
than in others. That this is actually the case has been abundantly 
proved in the older cranberry areas, and it is becoming more and 
more apparent in the Pacific coast region as the production there in- 
creases. The problem of evaluating all the various factors controlling 
storage-rot infection is so complicated that many years of careful work 
will be required before our knowledge of these relations becomes very 
exact {11,12). On one phase of the problem, however, there are defi- 
nite and convincing data, namely, the effect of storing berries wet 
upon the subsequent development of rot. 
The importance of this relation in the Pacific coast region is 
apparent when the seasonal nature of the climate is considered. 
During the summer months there is very little rainfall, while the 
autumns and winters are rainy. Fall rains sometimes begin before 
cranberry harvesting is finished, and it appears to be in such years 
that the greatest trouble with rots is encountered. To give a clearer 
picture of the relation of picking to rainfall, notes on the weather 
prevailing in September of the last four seasons and in October of 
the last three seasons are presented in Table 11. "Rainy" days as 
recorded include those in which rain fell all or part of the day, the 
vines and berries remaining wet in the latter case. 
