Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-10-12
Harvesting Apples.

Winter apples designed for long keep
ing should not be harvested until they
have developed color and flavor natural
to the ripe fruit. On the other hand,
the fruit ought not to be allowed to
remain on the trees until over-ripe.
Winter apples should always be hand
picked; no knocking off or shaking
down of the fruit must be practiced
when it is to be packed and stored.
Varieties of apples that ripcn irregu-
larly ought to be gathered accordingly,
An important point is to harvest apples
in dry weather only, for fruit free from.
atmospheric moisture when taken from
the tree, other things being equal,
keeps longest. Once gathered, the APP
pies should be protected from sun and
storms until they are assorted and final
ly packed.
Growers differ in thcis methods; some
cart the fruit to barn or fruit-house,
where the packing is delayed until cold
weather. Others dc the packing in the
orchard A plan very often adopted is
to employ two sets of hands at time of
harvest, one for picking the apples and
the other for asserting and packing inn
mediately in barrels.
There is no possible doubt about tho
Importance of asserting apples accord
ing ID variety, size and quality. If not
carefully sorted and graded the quality
of the whole barrel will be affected and
its keeping properties impaired 1t is
also important that the fruit be packed
closely, especially where it is designed
for long transportation; il is better to
pack full, even with some jamming,
than risk the apples moving about with
rough handling.
Some of our most successful farmers
have found the following to be n con-
venient and satisfactory mode of pack
ing apples: Take out one head from
clean barrel and begin packing by
placing tier of apples with their ends
to the closed head Of the barrel, then
fill up without bruising the fruit and
shake down thoroughly and fill the bar
rel so full that the head must be pressed.
IN with lever The head and hoops
are then nailed and the barrel turned
over, and on the head not opened the
name OF the variety in the barrel is
plainly marked. Apples packed in this
manner show attractive face 1t ought
to be borne in mind that in order to
! give satisfaction to the consumer and
create demand for the same mark of
fruit another season, the apples should
run uniform throughout the barrel 1t
does not pay to face the package with
fine specimens and end with that of in
ferior quality.
Apples intended for export are per-
mitted to shrink previous to the final
packing, and the shipments are delayed
until crisp, cold weather. There are
some growers who practice Inning the
barrels with paper as they pack the
apples in, using, if the weather be cold,
sometimes as many as two thicknesses.
with. this protection it is claimed that
packages will undergo long shipment
in extreme cold weather without bav.
ing their contents injured.
When the packing has been done the
barrels for safe-keeping should be stored
IN dark but well-ventilated place, and
kept at low, uniform temperature. as
near the freezing point OF water as
practicable. low temperature pre-.
vents the development of the fungi that
cause decay. A few. years ago it was
deemed important to keep apples in a
dry atmosphere, but nowadays there
are numerous advocates for a somewhat
moist air, on the ground that the latter
prevents the fruit from shriyelipp.
Scientists claim. and some of our farm
ers think their experience has proven.
that while a warmmoist4 cellar is d :
cidedly detrimental TO the keeping
qualities of fruit, wet, cold one pre.
vents loss of weight and size by evapo-
ration, and consequently is conducive
10 the preservation of the fresh appear
ance and natural flavor of the fruit.
". y. World.