BRUISING OF FRUIT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 13 January 1931, Page 2

BRUISING OF FRUIT

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

(To the Editor) Sir, —As the Nelson district suffers very serious loss every year through the bruising of fruit in transit it may interest many of your readers if I gave the experiences of my firm (Allport and Scott) in this matter, we having suffered more loss and worry from bruising than from any other cause. I might say we have done more experimenting, investigation, and observation, and had better facilities and organisation than others to carry it out. Apart from two shipments of 25 cases each which we sent to Dunedin and back to our shed, and 25 eases we sent to London in the ship’s store in 1913, when fruitgrowers were free men the same as other respectable New Zealand citizens, all our experiments, etc., had been done through our retail shops, over many years, hundreds of shipments, and tens of thousands of eases. • Ricking.—With care very little bruising should take place. The most that happens is through filling the picking hags too full and carelessly emptying the bag into the ease. Grading.—Bruising can take place with careless handling and dropping or throwing the apples into the cases. Packing.—A great deal of bruising can lie averted by proper packing. The worst pack is most decidedly the loose pack, .where the fruit can move and roll about during transit. Another class of pack that lends itself to much bruising is the high pack with too much bulge. The best and least liable to bruising is the firm solid pack brought slightly higher than the case. To get a solid pack the apples must be turned or placed in tlie pockets in the way that they will fit in the best so that they will not change their position, through the motions and jerks of transit. Apples packed uniformly with the stem towards the packer cannot always he solid and especially in some varieties are very apt to change their position in transit, causing the pack to become loose. We have found it very necessary to vary the style of pack for the different varieties and sizes. Apples of the sizes 2J, 2f, 3} always carry far better and with less bruising if packed' stems down and ealex uppermost, but to get the best results each variety must be considered as regards its shape. For instance it is quite impossible to pack Adam’s pcarmain and premier the same way as Jonathans and Sturmers and expect to get good results.

Pads.—With all our observation and experiments we have found that apples carry just as well and suffer no more bruising with or without pads if the fruit is properly packed. The only advantage is in using a little woodwool to fill in when the top layer is uneven or a little low. The bruising is invariably at the tops and bottoms of the eases and never on the sides where there is no padding except in the ease of loose packing when it will be found right through the case. . Transport.—The carrying of apples by motor lorry has not a great effect as a bruising agent, as the motion of che cases is almost entirely vertical. The worst bruising is done oii the boat itself, the tossing of the rough seas causing the piles of cases to bump against one another, .especially when there is a large consignment list. This can readily be. understood when there is a large bulge on the eases. We were very puzzled as to why shipments should vary so much as to the amount of bruising, until at one time we received word that a consignment had arrived with about 70 per cent, of the apples quite unsaleable owing to bruising. This shipment crossed the Strait in one of the roughest passages recorded. After that we could always tell by the state of the apples what sort of trip the steamer had. There is at least 80 per cent, of the bruising clone by this cause. It is quite possible that there is not so much bruising done on the ocean boats owing to the amount of dunnage used in the stacking. At any rate the shipment sent in the ship’s store opened up in excellent condition. Another cause of bruising at times is where fruit is carried by railway, through shunting that is done, especially on the goods trains. IVe have been much indebted to our ■ various managers for their help in. coming to these conclusions, especially Mr P, Kenning for several years our Wanganui manager. I am, etc., Alfred v. allport. Stoke, 13th Jan.