16 BULLETIN 531, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
crates without refrigeration, some of the berries were washed in the 
tubs of water which had been previously used for the washing of 
several bushels of commercial berries, some were washed in clean run- 
ning water, and the remainder were not washed. All washed berries 
were dried for a few minutes in the shade. They were then packed 
by professional packers (all berries in each shipment being packed 
by one operator) and sent to Washington, where records were taken 
upOn a careful inspection of each berry. The results of these experi- 
ments are summarized in Table II. 
Table II. — Infection resulting from washing straiouerries in a commercial 
manner. 
Treatment of fruit, if any. 
Number 
of berries. 
Sound 
after 
arrival. 
Not washed 
Washed in clean water 
Washed in dirty water used in the packing house . 
716 
1,153 
1,067 
Per cent. 
37 
35 
17 
The generally low average of sound fruit was due to the length 
of time the berries had been kept at room temperature after reach- 
ing their destination. In northern markets, however, one frequently 
finds berries which contain no higher proportion of sound fruit. 
The results given in Table II indicated that the commercial method 
of washing berries was injurious to their shipping qualities and 
also that this injury would be largely overcome by the use of clean 
water. The frequent changing of water in the tub usually would 
not be inconvenient in Florida, for wells and pumps often are located 
at or near the packing houses. 
DRYING BERRIES AFTER WASHING. 
As already mentioned, a few growers make a practice of packing 
their fruit wet. though most of them expose it to the air, either 
in the shade of the packing house or, more frequently, in the sun, 
until most of the water has evaporated from the surfaces of the 
berries. Experiments were undertaken to determine the relative 
effects of these different methods from the standpoint of inhibiting 
the growth of Ehizopus in the fruit. 
When berries are dried they are spread upon cloth-covered frames 
or packing tables. These cloth covers usually are not renewed 
during a shipping season. Often they are soaked with juice from 
the strawberries, and it was suspected that they might serve as 
carriers of infection to fruit spread upon them. Numerous careful 
experiments for the determination of this point, however, gave 
