UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
&J9*^mTU 
| BULLETIN No. 714 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
August 9, 1918 
SPOILAGE OF CRANBERRIES AFTER HARVEST. 
By C. L. Sheab and Neil E. Stevens, Pathologists ; R. B. Wilcox and B. A. 
Rudolph, Scientific Assistants, Fruit-Disease Investigations. 
(The work done in Massachusetts was in cooperation with the Massachusetts 
Agricultural Experiment Station.) 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 1 
Causes of the cranberry spoilage 2 
Bruising 2 
Drying out 3 
Natural ripening processes 4 
Smothering 4 
Conditions which cause smothering 4 
Water storage 5 
Prevention of smothering 5 
Fungi 6 
Importance. 6 
Principal cranberry fungi which cause 
fruit rots 6 
Control of fungous diseases 7 
Summary 18 
Practical suggestions 19 
Literature cited 20 
INTRODUCTION. 
IMPORTANCE OF SPOILAGE AFTER HARVEST. 
Three million dollars' worth of cranberries are, on the average, 
produced annually in the United States. Although effective control 
measures are practiced b}^ many growers, a considerable portion of 
the crop, certainly not less than 10 per cent, is lost through fungous 
diseases before the fruit is picked. Large losses also frequentl}' ap- 
pear after picking. In some respects this spoilage is more trouble- 
some than that which occurs earlier. Fruit which spoils after it is 
packed and shipped has cost the grower for handling and packing, 
and further expense is frequently involved in claims for allowances, 
shipments refused, inspection, and sometimes reseparating at the 
market. On the average, at least 15 per cent of the crop is estimated 
to be lost between the field and the consumer. 
A less obvious but even more serious effect upon the demand for 
and sale of cranberries is that produced by marketing spoiled fruit. 
"Time and again," says Mr. A. U. Chaney (3, p. 30) \ "have I no- 
1 The serial numbers in parentheses refer to "Literature cited" (P- 20). 
