COLD STORAGE OF FLORIDA GRAPEFRUIT 5 
through the washer and polisher was less liable to decay than fruit 
which retained the buttons. This seemed to offer a method for 
controlling this disease in storage. It was tested experimentally 
with comparable fruit, from certain lots of which the buttons had 
been removed by treatment with stove gas, whereas others treated 
with gas for the same length of time still retained the buttons. The 
results of these experiments are shown in Table 1. Some of the 
fruit included in this table was held at a temperature of 70° F. 
throughout the experiment, while part of it was placed in cold 
storage at 32° for 30 days and then removed to a 70° temperature 
for varying lengths of time. 
TABLE 1.—LHffect of removing buttons on the rot of grapefruit in storage 
N maar of days Percentage of— 
a — 
Tot Number | Buttons 
of fruits | in or out - ead A i 
em-en ue oun 
32° F. 70° F. rot mold fruit 
hey waged | 
Weep Oe Nfs) 6.1 3.0 90.9 
JN CO YS Ua SSR Ph A NRL MC Caf aye sid Bo ee MR NP diane a naa 33 24.2 3.0 72.8 
Eisitaltan penis 43 28.8 3.0 68. 2 
OEY ste 15 4.8 4.8 90. 4 
ENO ed ade PINES aN her RUT UR UE sent SAO UGE en ele eo 33 14.3 4.8 80.9 
[oR Ase Lic). penptlete ed shits Nase | eater TNS 43 17.9 6.0 76. ; 
30 11 34.9 0 65. 
No.3-~------ 2222 2-J22e see 43)(\Ino2---= { 30 19 gauge! f6 37.2 
30 11 11.6 | 0 8&8. 4 
NO. 4--_-----2--- 222-222-2222 --- #3) Out... { 30 19 16.3 0 83.7 
It is evident from Table 1 that there is considerably less decay in 
the fruit from which the buttons have been removed. This was 
particularly true where the fruit had been in cold storage for one 
month. From this work and from other experiments along the same 
lines it seems probable that the removal of the buttons from the fruit 
_by a treatment with stove gas would be of considerable benefit in the 
storage of grapefruit. Winston, Fulton, and Bowman® discuss 
_ this method of the control of stem-end rot in a recent publication. 
In the course of this storage work examinations were made of a 
number of cars of fruit in various commercial storage plants, most 
of which was stored without curing. In two cars which had been 
stored three weeks and one month, respectively, there was no pitting. 
In an inspection of fruit from a third car stored eight weeks 48 
per cent pitting was found in the second-grade fruit and 28 per 
cent in that of the first grade, while practically the same conditions 
were found in a fourth car that had been in storage for a little 
less than eight weeks. 
GENERAL DISCUSSION 
The results of these experiments, together with data presented in 
previous publications, indicate that the cold storage of grapefruit 
is practicable from a commercial standpoint. It is evident that 
storage in the latter part of the season may result in sufficient decay 
3 WINSTON, J. R., FuLTON, H. R., and Bowman, J. J. Commercial control of citrus 
stem-end rot. U.S. Dept. Agr. Circ. 293, 10 pp., illus. 1923. 
