26 
BULLETIN 331, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table X. — Decay in four series of prune shipments from orchards showing little 
or no broion-rot and in comparable series from orchards badly affected ivith 
broivn-rot, Willamette Valley, season of 1913. 
Brown-rot, time factors, and extent of 
decay (per cent). 
Time of inspection. 
Practically free 
from brown-rot. 
Badly affected 
with brown-rot. 
10-day 
with- 
drawal. 
15-day 
with- 
drawal. 
10-day 
with- 
drawal. 
15-day 
with- 
drawal. 
On withdrawal 

.3 
.9 
0.1 
.8 
2.3 
1.0 
5.2 
9.6 
2.7 
9.4 
7 days after withdrawal 
15.8 
The possibility of marketing prunes in a fresh condition will de- 
pend, therefore, largely upon correct handling and cultural practices. 
The exercise of the necessary care in harvesting will prevent decay 
due to mechanical injuries made in handling. Proper cultural prac- 
tices should secure the delivery to the packing house of prunes free 
from brown-rot infection. The successful solution of this problem 
will depend entirely upon the industry, that is, the efficiency shown 
in controlling the factors which to the greatest degree determine the 
condition of fresh prunes in transit. 
MATURITY TESTS. 
During the season of 1913 an effort was made to determine the" 
proper stage of maturity at which prunes should be picked for fresh- 
fruit shipment. The excessive development of brown-rot in the ex- 
perimental lots, especially during the early part of the season, tended 
to nullify any results that might have been obtained. Three picks 
were made one week apart, the first pick about three weeks before the 
fruit is normally harvested for evaporation or drying. It was be- 
lieved by many people that the fruit would grow considerably be- 
tween the first and last picks, but the data accumulated along this 
line indicate that there was no considerable increase in size between 
the first and third picking, except in one instance. If proper allow- 
ance is made for the prevalence of brown-rot during the early part 
of the season, the time of picking did not seem to have any noticeable 
effect on the keeping quality of the prunes. There was, however, a 
striking difference in the condition of the prunes at the final inspec- 
tions of the early and late picks, the former showing no natural 
deterioration whatever, while the latter developed considerable. 
The most striking fact brought out in the maturity test relates to 
quality. The fruit from the first pick had an excellent flavor at the 
end of the longest storage period for that fruit, while the fruit in the 
last pick, irrespective of the orchards from which it came, was almost 
unfit to eat, although the physical appearance was very good. 
