4 BULLETIN 960, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
leaves carefully removed, and the crates piled in a favorable location. 
It goes without saying that the more quickly the berries are placed 
in the drying crates after they are harvested the better. It is im- 
portant, too, that they be handled as carefully as possible to avoid 
bruising, for even slight injuries have been shown to increase decay 
(9, p. 13). In this respect there is some advantage in placing the 
berries directly in the crates in which they are to be stored. 
INJURY DURING SUBMERGENCE. 
That cranberries are injured and may be wholly spoiled by long- 
continued submergence is well known (9, p. 5, and 6, p. 117). The 
extent of the injury which will occur in a given time is governed by 
various factors, among which are the age of the berries, the tempera- 
ture of the water, and the oxygen content of the water. It is highly 
probable that the variety of the berry and the fungi present may 
influence the amount of injury, though no definite statements on this 
point are possible at present. 
AGE OF THE BERRY AT THE TIME OF SUBMERGENCE. 
In general, any factor which influences the oxygen requirement of 
the cranberry affects the extent of the injury due to smothering. 
Green berries respire more rapidly than ripe ones, and green berries 
are therefore the first to suffer from smothering when flooded. (See 
also 6, p. 118.) This is well shown by the relative percentage of 
spoilage in green (not fully colored) and ripe (fully colored) water- 
raked berries examined at Chicago and Minneapolis in 1918, as shown 
in Table I. 
TaBLE I1.—Keeping quality of gr een and ripe water-raked cranberries grown on the same 
bog in Wisconsin mm 1918. 
Spoiled ber- 
Ties (per 
Ley 2 t ‘ cent). 
Variety. Where examined. Date examined. 
Green. | Ripe. 
ee IES Mee aG ys Can) Ria eae CRIED oO ae tel Ys Maa ae MN A Oeti272 Aa Ea 7 7 
Se ie ie ie eee Pere ee at BOs Sa OS cage ca a te = a ae DCCs ee eae es 48 82 
Searle eee AE RU ES COLE A SSCE Fon jMinmeapelee Manis 1 S02. ss SEI. ok Dec, Gis eee 54 34 
In the case of the Metallic Bell variety the first counts were made 
when the barrels arrived at Chicago, and the second were from the 
same barrels about six weeks later. The two lots of the Searls 
variety examined were stored in barrels under the same conditions. 
The green berries were under water at the time of flooding not more 
than two and a half days, while the late-picked berries were in the 
water for three to five days. Notwithstanding this fact, the late- 
