HANDLING AND SHIPPING FRESH CHERRIES AND PRUNES. 13 
It is evident that cherries grown in humid sections subject to con- 
siderable rainy weather at harvest time are more susceptible to 
injury than similar varieties grown in the more arid sections, and 
they therefore require all the more careful handling. In view of 
this fact it would seem advisable where practicable to make more 
extended trials of shipping in berry crates, in this way obviating the 
necessity of tight packing. 
Whether the cherries are shipped in carload lots under refrigera- 
tion or in smaller lots by express, immediate loading is essential. 
Precooling or the prompt cooling of cherries before shipment is of 
material assistance in minimizing decay in transit. Precooling, how- 
ever, is hardly justified unless the fruit is carefully and properly 
handled, and it should never be depended on to overcome the bad 
effects of rough or careless handling. It is essential that the fruit be 
cooled as quickly as possible after picking, that the precooling be 
thoroughly done, and that the fruit be transferred to the refrigerator 
car without exposure to the warmer outside temperatures. 
PRUNE INVESTIGATIONS. 
EXTENT AND STATUS OF THE INDUSTRY. 
Prune growing is the leading horticultural industry of those por- 
tions of Polk and Marion Counties adjacent to Salem, as well as of 
several other counties in the Willamette Valley, Oreg. The Italian 
prune is the variety most widely planted and was used exclusively in 
these handling and precooling investigations. As almost the entire 
product of the section in the vicinity of Salem and in the Willamette 
Valley generally is evaporated, all cultural and handling operations 
have been developed with this end in view. 
While the main dependence must be placed on marketing the prod- 
uct in an evaporated state, during most seasons it would be greatly 
to the growers' advantage if a portion of the fresh crop could be 
profitably shipped. The practicability of and success with fresh- 
prune shipments from this and other sections depend primarily on 
whether the product can be delivered in sound and good merchant- 
able condition. During the seasons of 1910 and 1911 several car- 
loads of fresh prunes were shipped to Chicago and other eastern 
markets under refrigeration, but with rather unsatisfactory results, 
due mainly to the fact that most of the shipments arrived in a badly 
decayed condition. Further shipments were planned for the season 
of 1913, but unfavorable weather conditions immediately preceding 
the harvesting season, along with attractive prices offered for the 
dried product, caused the growers to abandon all fresh-fruit shipping 
plans. 
