SHIPMENT OF RED RASPBERRIES. ok 
the Department of Agriculture, as above reported, have demon- 
strated clearly the beneficial results. of precooling red raspberries, 
but to get full value out of the money expended in precooling it is 
absolutely necessary to do it properly and well. 
Precooling can not be depended on to offset the bad effects of care- 
less, rough handling, and for such purpose is not justified any more 
than is a half job of precooling of either properly or improperly 
handled berries. Thorough precooling of properly handled red 
raspberries is fully justified by the results and is of the greatest 
assistance in delivering berries to the market in good condition. 
Any association, organization, or individual wishing to utilize pre- 
eooling in connection with the long-distance shipment of berries 
should adapt the picking and handling operations to the needs of 
the situation, so as to permit sufficient time for thorough precool- 
ing. Otherwise, the money put into precooling is very largely 
wasted. 
SUMMARY. 
The results of these investigations demonstrate that the care exer- 
cised in handling and the promptness with which the fruit is cooled 
are among the most important factors determining the distance over 
which red raspberries can be successfully shipped. These two fac- 
tors, more than any other, determine the condition of the berries on 
arrival at the market and the area of successful distribution. In 
connection with the handling and shipping of fresh red raspberries 
the following recommendations are made. 
While methods of growing, pruning, and training have primarily 
in view the production of the largest possible crop at the most profit- 
able period during the season, the grower should also keep in mind 
the ease or difficulty of harvesting. If the methods of growing, 
pruning, and training are such as to facilitate picking, there will be 
less hability to injury to the fruit in handling. Too close planting 
or the nonseparation of bearing from nonbearing canes increases the 
difficulty of doing the picking either thoroughly or properly. 
Before the harvesting season commences “all surplus new growth 
should be cut out and the remaining new canes separated from the 
bearing vines in such a way as to facilitate finding and ee 
the fruit with the least’amount of injury. 
In picking, three fingers should be used to remove the berry from 
the receptacle instead “of two, as is the common practice. Three 
fingers distribute the pressure and lessen the lability to injury. 
Each berry should be placed in a cup as soon as removed from 
the vine, in order to avoid mashing. When several berries are held 
in the hand while picking it is difficult to avoid crushing them. 
Crushing or bruising from any cause is to be avoided, as it is often 
the cause of serious losses on the market. 
The greatest care should be exercised in sorting to place only firm, 
good-shipping berries in shipping cups and all soft, overripe, in- 
jured berries in canning cups. The inclusion of one overripe berry 
in a cup may spoil the whole cup, one cup a whole crate, and a few 
such crates a whole carload. 
It is very important that the yards be picked over so frequently 
that an undue proportion of berries will not become ov erripe. The 
frequent picking over of a patch makes good sorting in picking 
