The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-12-24
KEEPING APPLES.

Every fruit grower understands
that none but the most careful hands
should be allowed to gather fruit from
the trees that is designed for long
keeping. A careful man ought also
TO do all the barreling. Apples should
be lifted by the hands .and carefully
laid-not dropped-into their places
In the barrel. Face two rows, stem
down, against the head that is to be
taken out when the barrel is opened
for sale or use. The others may be
laid in indiscrimately but carefully
until the barrel is full. A gentle
shaking is allowable, just enough to
better settle the fruit in place; then
the head should be pressed in by the
nse of an apple press. Just how much
pressure may be applied must be left
TO the judgment of the operator, but
it liz quite as likely to be too little as
too much. At this stage a bruise from
the pressure of the head will not cause
not, as it would were the pressure not
still continued upon it, by which the
germs of decay seem to be prevented
from entering the bruised spot, a
they would if it were more freely ex-
posed to the atmosphere. Whatever
may be the reason, it is quite well
established that a pressure that pre-
vents any movement of the apples
when the package is handled, even if
it occasions bruises to a few, is neces-
sary to good keeping when barreled.
While q selection of fair and slightly
apples is allowable and expected for
the head, to be shown to the buyer,
these should not be so much better
than the average as to be disappoint-
ing when examined and up to the
standard that is claimed for them. In
packing apples for sale it is advised to
make first and second qualities, and
where there is a portion of unusually
large fruit even a third may be made
to advantage, for uniformity in size
adds much to the appearance. More
money will be obtained for a crop
properly graded and each sold on its
merits than if all were packed indis-
crimately without regard to size. In
general packing in the orchard at the
time of the picking will be found the
best; bat circumstances alter cases so
much that no fixed rule will apply alike
to all.
Of the many plans practiced in
keeping apples, one is to store the fruit
temporarily in bins in a barn or other
building until the advent of freezing
weather. Another is to keep them in
narrow cribs in the orchard. Of the
two the latter is the best, if the crib is
made in the shade and further pro-
tected from rain and rqa bV loose J
boards. The onlyT advantage that can
be claimed Tor keeping them in bulk
foT weeks is a saving in cooper
age. It is. however, liable to the OBJ
lection of much more handling than
when barreled in the orchard at the
picking, and, furthermore, it is thought
a full exposure to the atmosphere is
not the best condition to resist decay.
AS commonly arranged, a cellar is
the last place in which apples should
be stored until it becomes necessary
te prevent them from freezing, and
quite often a wet cellar will prove bet
ter than dry one. There is probably
no better way of keeping apples in
barrels during the varying tempera7
ture of autumn and early winter than
In a storeroom on the ground floor of
building having thin walls. At
each end of the room there should be
a door and windows by which such a
circulation of air car be maintained
Is the general temperature NAV re-
quire. Such a place will afford as
good conditions Tor the preservation
of fruit by natural mean as a be
obtained, and in many sections can be
safely used through the entire winter.
This trouble with cellars, explains
The World, from which the foregoing
is taken, arises mainly from defective
ventilation. The occasional opening
of windows does not afford it in a
good form. A constant and regular
circulation is what is wanted. Where
the outside air can be admitted at the
bottom through an underground pass
age and the cellar be connected with
a chimney for air escape, it will be an
excellent place for the winter storage
of fruit. Whenever it becomes neces.
sary to assert apples that have been
barreled, it will be better to market
them at once than to keep them longer.
The exposure and handling will be
likely to cause more rot afterward