44 
BULLETIN 63, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Averaging the results for December, 1910 and 1911, the commercially handled fruit 
showed 11.6 per cent of decay on arrival and the carefully handled 1.8 per cent. 
During the months of January, 1911 and 1912, the decay of oranges shipped under 
commercial conditions was 6.8 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. The corre- 
sponding carefully handled fruit showed 0.6 and 0.5 per cent, respectively, or 
practically the same for both years. 
During February commercially handled fruit showed 6.2 per cent of deterioration 
on arrival at Washington in 1911, the percentage of decay for the following year being 
1.6 per cent. The average of the February lots for the two seasons was 3.9 per cent. 
Carefully handled fruit during 1911 and 1912 arrived with 0.5 and 0.2 per cent of 
decay, respectively, the average for the two years being 0.3 per cent. 
No experimental shipments were made later than February during the second season. 
In March, 1911, the average percentage of decay in commercial shipments was 5 per 
cent on arrival, the carefully handled lots showing only 0.3 per cent. 
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Fig. 25.— Diagram illustrating the percentage of blue-mold decay of oranges on arrival, by months, 
during two seasons, 1910-11 and 1911-12. 
These figures are significant in that they show a very high percentage of decay 
during December, followed by a gradual decrease as the season advances. This is 
true for both commercially and carefully handled fruit, although in the case of the 
latter the loss was, without exception, below the usual 3 per cent commercial allow- 
ance. It is scarcely probable that decay can be held below this point even with the 
best system of handling, for it is practically impossible to eliminate every injured 
orange or to carry on the handling operations in such a way that absolutely no injury 
is done. The general principle that very slight injury will result in decay when 
weather conditions are favorable for the development of blue mold is substantiated 
by these figures, and the importance of extra care during the early months is again 
emphasized. 
