HANDLING, SHIPPING, AND STORAGE OP BARTLETT PEARS. 9 
In the Yakima and Wenatchee districts of Washington very great 
difficulty has been experienced in shipping fruit through to eastern 
markets. In former years the losses from fruit breaking down in 
transit were very heavy. By prompt and very efficient precooling, 
however, it has been possible to handle the Yakima Valley fruit 
during recent }^ears without much loss. The Wenatchee Valley, with 
a somewhat cooler growing season and less cold-storage capacity for 
precooling, still suffers considerable loss of Bartlett pears on eastern 
shipments. 
The temperature range in these districts (the Yakima and We- 
natchee Valleys) is not markedly lower than that at Sacramento. 
It is true, however, that during a normal season the peak of the pick- 
ing season in the former regions is not reached until the first week in 
September. It will be noted that September temperatures represent 
a sharp drop below those of July and August. This may account 
in part for a greater difficulty with this fruit than the records would 
seem to warrant. 
In the Santa Clara Valley of California, centering about San Jose, 
in the Sonoma County section north of San Francisco, and in the 
Willamette Valley of Oregon attempts to ship Bartlett pears to east- 
ern markets have not generally met with success, except in the case 
of very early picked fruit. These districts, near enough to the coast 
to have a comparatively cool climate, produce Bartletts excellent 
for cannery purposes, but with a carrying season too short to allow 
them to be readily handled for eastern shipment. The tendency to 
break down internally is marked. It is probably true, however, that 
some of this fruit, even of later pickings, could be shipped success- 
fully were it possible to precool it efficiently. 
In the counties near the coast, and especially in districts directly 
adjacent to the coast, a few Bartlett pears are produced. Grown in 
this extremely cool climate, the pears are of the poorest keeping 
quality of any under observation. Such fruit is particularly likely 
to break down internally, and it must be handled very carefully, 
even for use by canneries, if it is to be utilized without loss. 
It is not the intention in this report to imply that the temperature 
of the growing season is the only factor involved in determining the 
rapidity of the breakdown in pears following removal, from the tree. 
In the territory studied the humidity varies inversely with the tem- 
perature, the regions of high temperature being low in humidity, and 
vice versa. This may be equally important with temperature in its 
effect on the fruit. Soil and soil moisture undoubtedly are factors 
entering into the keeping quality of the fruit to a marked extent, but 
the relationship to temperature during the growing season seems 
to stand out when the conditions characterizing the different districts 
are considered. 
