News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-10-25
Harvesting Apples.

Winter apples designed for long Keep
ing should not be harvested until they
have developed color and flavor natural
70 the ripe fruit. On the other hand,
the fruit ought not to be allowed to re-
main on the trees until overripe. Win
ter apples should always be hand
picked; no knocking off or shaking down
of the fruit must be practiced when 1t Is
to be packed and stored.
Varieties of apples that ripen irregu-
larIy ought to be gathered accordingly.
An important point is to harvest apples
in dry weather only, for the 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 tiually
packed.
Growers differ in their methods:
some cart the fruit to barn or fr"lt-
houses, where the packing Is delaye'
until cold weather. Others do the
hacking in the orchard. A plan very
often adopted is to employ two sets OF
hands at time of harvest, one for pick
ing the apples and the other for assort-
ne and packing Immediately IN barrels.
There is no possible doubt about the
Importance of asserting apples accords
ing to variety, size and quality. Ii not
carefully sorted and graded the quality
of tbe whole barrel will be affected and
its keeping properties impaired. 1t Is
also important that tEe fruit be packed
closely, especially where it is designed
for long transportation; it is better tC
pack full, even with some j@mmlng
than to risk the apples moving aoou
with rough handling.
Some of our most successful tarmHr'
have found the following to be a con
venient and satisfactory mode of packing
apples: Take out one head from a clem
barrel and begin packing by placing
! tier of apples with their ends to tn
E closed head OF the barrel, then I'LL u
without bruising the fruit and shak
+ down thoroughly and fill the barrel $
D full that the head must be pressed l
. with a lever. The head and hoops ~
: then nailed and the barrel turned ovel
and on the head not opened the name
V the variety in the barrel is plainl
o marked. Apples packed i'll this mannt
Il show attractive face. 1t ought to |
,a borne in mind that III order to give sa
,e isfaction to the consumer and create
demand for the same mark of fruit a
le other season, the apples should run ul
IS form throughout the barrel. 1t do
le not pav to face the package with fl
as specimens and end with that OF luten
is quality.
fe mitted to shrink previous to the I'll
r packing and the shipments are delay
until crisp, cold weather. There
N. some growers who practice Inning t
Id barrels with papers as they pack I
apples in, using, ii the weather be co
ng sometimes as many as two thickness
With this protection it is claimed tt
packages will undergo long shipment
lie extreme cold weather without havl
III their contents injured.
ad When the packing has been done
pc. barrels for safe-keeping should be stol
lad in dark but well-ventilated place {
kept at Il low, uniform temperature,
ne near the freezing point of water as
l, practicable. A low temperature !
vents the development of the fungi t
'ilr =, cause decay. A few years ago it
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