FURTHER STUDIES OF THE ROTS OF STRAWBERRY FRUITS. 5 
In six tests, which included three varieties from two localities, 
washed berries which had been placed in the crates while wet were 
compared with unwashed berries. The results are given in Table 
III. 
Table III. — Effect of washing strawberries, as shown by six tests of fruit grown in 
Louisiana and Missouri in 1917 . 
Variety. 
Locality where 
grown. 
Unwashed fruit. 
Washed fruit. 
Test. 
Number 
of berries. 
Sound. 
Number 
of berries. 
Sound. 
No. 1 
Klondike 
Russell 1 
Hammond, La 
do 
268 
222 
234 
638 
192 
230 
Per cent, j 
41 ! 243 
40 228 
42 194 
49 658 
58 162 
57 ! 
Per cent. 
26 
No. 2 
26 
No. 3 
Klondike 
do 
43 
No 4 
.do 
do 
52 
No 5 
do 
do 
72 
No 6 
Warfield 
Monett, Mo 
81 
A local name. 
As was stated in a previous paper (12, p. 18), the improvement in 
the keeping quality due to washing berries is greatest when the 
temperature of the air is highest, as the improvement is apparently 
due to the fact that the wetted berries are at a lower temperature 
during the interval between packing and placing under refrigeration. 
The results given in Table III emphasize these facts. In tests 
Xos. 1 and 2 the berries were picked between 8 and 9:30 a. m. on a 
bright but rather cool morning following a heavy rain. Many of 
the berries were still wet, and their temperature was not materially 
lowered either by dipping or subsequent increased evaporation. 
The chief effect of the treatment was, then, the slight bruising 
incident to dipping, and the results are unfavorable to the washed 
fruit. 
In tests Nos. 3 to 6, however, the berries were picked between 
11 a. m. and 3 p. m. on warm bright days when the immersion and 
evaporation actually lowered the temperature of the washed fruit 
considerably below that of the dry. 
In tests Nos. 1 to 4 the berries were kept without refrigeration for 
24 hours before being loaded into cars for shipment to Chicago. 
The cooling due to washing persisted for only a few hours, after 
which the berries reached a temperature favorable for fungous 
growth and remained at that temperature for a considerable time 
prior to being placed in refrigerator cars, so the beneficial effect due 
to washing was largely lost. In the last two tests, on the other hand, 
the berries were loaded into iced cars within a few hours after picking 
and washing, so that the cooling effect persisted for the entire interval 
and the berries did not reach ah' temperature at any time. Under 
these conditic ns washing markedly improved their keeping quality. 
