9 BULLETIN 274, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
eration would materially improve the carrying quality. In response 
to urgent requests from the industry, investigations of the relation 
of methods of handling and refrigeration to decay and deterioration 
of Puyallup Valley red raspberries in transit to distant markets 
were included in the fruit-handling and storage investigations of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry. Experimental work was carried on dur- 
ing the shipping seasons of 1911 and 1912, and to a limited extent 
during the season of 1913. Red raspberries were used in -experi- 
mental work almost exclusively, although occasional lots of logan- 
berries and strawberries were included during the season of 1911. 
Fic. 1.—A red-raspberry yard at Puyallup, Wash. 
THE BERRY INDUSTRY OF THE PUYALLUP VALLEY. 
The methods of handling red raspberries are so closely associated 
with those of growing and of training that it seems desirable to give 
a brief description of the berry industry in the Puyallup Valley, 
Wash. 
The berry industry in this valley is centralized largely around 
Puyallup and Sumner, in Pierce County, in the Puget Sound country 
of western Washington. The region is one of abundant rainfall, 
relatively cool summers, and mild winters, and originally was coy- 
ered with forests of gigantic evergreens. The rains are most abun- 
dant during the winter months but are frequent during June, July, 
August, and September, and are one of the principal factors that 
determine the season’s fresh-fruit shipments. If rains are continuous 
or frequent, with little or no sunshine, the berries do not mature 
properly, lack firmness, are soft and full of moisture, and conse- 
quently are poor shipping fruits. During 1911 practically all of the 
red raspberries produced in the valley could have been shipped fresh, 
- 
