RHIZOPUS EOT OF STRAWBERRIES IN TRANSIT. 15 
which the fruit is picked without further handling. However, fruit 
shipped in crates without refrigeration or in pony refrigerators, as 
from Florida, usually suffers severely by careless handling at points 
of transfer. In these cases the close packing of the fruit to prevent 
settling has been found to be of much advantage. If packed too 
tightly or forced into place, the fruit is unnecessarily crushed and 
bruised. The aim of the best packers is to place the berries as closely 
as possible without crowding or injuring them. 
DIRECT SOURCES OF INFECTION. 
One experiment was conducted in which the berries were treated 
in various ways to obtain, if possible, some indication as to the most 
serious sources of infection with Rhizopus in commercial handling. 
Apparently sound berries were selected, and in order to accentuate 
the comparative value of the results obtained the epidermis of each 
berry (except in A and C, Table I) was broken with a sterile needle 
before other treatment. All berries were then packed similarly and 
shipped in small iced containers. The results of the experiment are 
gh T en in Table I. 
Table I. — Infection of strawberries resulting from various methods of treatment. 
Treatment of fruit, if any. 
Condition after arrival 
at destination (per 
cent). 
Sound. 
Soft 
spots. 
Leaks. 
A.— Sound fruit, not wounded 
B. — Wounded with sterile needle 
C. — Wounded with pine needles 
D. — W ashed in clean water 
E. — Washed in water used in packing house 
F. — Dirt forced into the wounds 
G.— Rhizopus mycelium forced into wounds 
H.— Washed in water containing spores from a pure culture of Rhizopus. 

7 
3 
12 
29 

100 
100 
Table I shows that injury with pine needles and washing in clean 
water did not injure the shipping qualities of the berries any more 
than did injury with the sterile needle. The contrast between the 
final condition of fruit washed in clean running water and that 
washed in the ordinary commercial manner was most striking. This 
preliminary shipment gave a valuable clue, which was followed in 
subsequent experiments. In all later shipments sound, unwounded 
berries selected individually by one of the writers or those selected 
by careful professional packers were used. 
WASHING BERRIES. 
The influence of washing upon the development of rot in straw- 
berries was investigated. In each of a series of shipments made in 
small iced containers, commercial pony refrigerators, or ventilated 
