HANDLING, SHIPPING, AND STORAGE OF BARTLETT PEARS. 7 
In Oregon the Eogue River Valley Bartletts carry the best of any 
in that State and are comparable to the Sacramento River fruit. 
Pears from the Salem district ripen quickly and must be handled 
more promptly after the removal from the tree. In Washington much 
difficulty has been experienced in handling Bartletts from the Yak- 
ima and Wenatchee Valleys for eastern shipment. The fruit ripens 
rapidly and has a tendency to ripen first at the core. By using the 
best methods of precooling, shippers have been successful in handling 
the fruit from the Yakima Valley, though severe losses are still en- 
countered in attempting to ship the Wenatchee grown Bartletts to 
eastern markets. 
From a survey of the fruit as grown under the widely varying 
climatic conditions of the Pacific coast, it is apparent that a marked 
relationship exists between the keeping quality of Bartlett pears fol- 
lowing their removal from the tree and the summer temperatures 
under which the fruit is grown. These observations have been made 
entirely in the pear regions on the Pacific coast, and no attempt has 
been made to check them by tests in the eastern producing States. 
The records of the United States Weather Bureau for various 
points in each of the main Bartlett pear-producing sections have been 
obtained, and from these records the average daily maximum and 
minimum temperatures for June, July, and August have been com- 
puted. These records are averages for a large number of years. The 
temperature records together with notes on the carrying quality of 
the fruit following removal from the tree are summarized in Table 1. 
In certain instances it has been impossible to secure Weather 
Bureau records of the average daily maximum and minimum tem- 
peratures directly in the main pear-producing regions. However, it 
has been possible to obtain data sufficiently complete to give a very 
good idea of the general temperature range. As these studies have 
been carried on, it has become increasingly evident that the summer 
growing-season temperatures are of great importance in the develop- 
ment of fruit that has a long keeping season. 
Bartlett pears grown in the Antelope Valley and other very hot 
districts in California have a widely known reputation for keeping 
quality. Often the summer temperatures in this region run to 
115° F. The upper Sacramento Valley and foothills of the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains, also having high temperatures during the grow- 
ing season, produce pears that can be shipped to any point in the 
United States. Such fruit is loaded into iced refrigerator cars, 
shipped without previous precooling, and unless unexpected delays 
occur usually arrives on the markets in excellent condition. 
Pears from the lower Sacramento Valley, in the region between 
Sacramento and the mouth of the river, are also very good shippers, 
although occasional trouble is encountered. This is especially true 
of fruit from the lower and cooler portion of this region. In this 
