2 BULLETIN 13868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Heretofore the experiments have been confined to quantities of 
grapefruit contained in not more than 10 or 15 boxes. It remained, 
therefore, to test the process In a commercial way with carload lots, 
storing the fruit and selling it on the market. This work was begun 
in the spring of 1922, and the present bulletin gives the results ob- 
tained from the curing and storing of about three carloads of grape- 
fruit. A method of treating the fruit to control decay in storage is 
also discussed in connection with other experimental work. 
EXPERIMENTAL WORK 
The grapefruit used in all this experimental work was of different 
varieties, including Duncan, Silver Cluster, Walters, and seedlings, 
all of which contained seeds. The Marsh seedless variety was not 
used, because in previous work it was found that it had a tendency 
to develop an unattractive flavor if stored for a considerable period. 
FIRST EXPERIMENT 
In the first experiment 343 field crates of grapefruit picked March 
97 and 28, 1922, were used. During the curing process, which lasted 
13 days, the boxes were stacked four high in rows 1 foot apart on 
the packing-house floor, the temperature of the house varying from 
67° to 85° F., with a rather wide range of humidity, 38 to 98 per cent. 
The mean temperature was about 75° F. and the average humidity 
about 65 per cent. The shrinkage of the fruit in this time, deter- 
mined by the weight of samples at the beginning and end of the 
curing period, was found to be 3.9 per cent. Sixty boxes were in- 
spected for decay when the fruit was packed. It was found that the 
average decay due to blue mold was 1.8 per cent and to stem-end rot 
1.1 per cent, a total of 2.9 per cent during the 18 days. The 348 
standard field crates packed out 231 boxes of merchantable fruit. 
This fruit was precooled, loaded in a refrigerator car, shipped under 
initial icing to the experimental cold-storage plant at the Arlington 
Experiment Farm, Va., and placed in 32° F. storage immediately 
on arrival April 17, about 20 days after harvesting. 
The first lot of 100 boxes was sold June 2 to 6, after having been 
held 46 to 50 days. There was practically no pitting of the fruit. 
There was, however, 9.6 per cent decay in the first-grade fruit, 5 
per cent in the second, and 13.7 in the third, necessitating sorting out 
the decayed fruit and repacking. A second lot was sold June 17. 
two months after the fruit was placed in storage, and, as in the first 
lot, there was practically no pitting. There was, however, 14 per 
cent decay in the first grade, 5.5 per cent in the second, and 14 per 
cent in the third. Small lots of second-grade fruit were sold on 
June 23 to 26, and there was an average of 9.9 per cent decay, with 
no appreciable pitting. The last lot of fruit, sold August 6 and 7, 
about three and two-thirds months from the time the fruit was 
placed in storage, or a little over four months from the time the 
fruit was harvested, showed considerable pitting. There was an 
average of 37.5 per cent decay in the first-grade fruit, 36 per cent in 
the second, and 44 per cent in the third. Although this fruit 
was edible and in good condition when removed from storage, it 
broke down very quickly at the ordinary market temperatures; 
