Rocky Ford enterprise., 1895-10-03
Picking and Packing of Peaches.

There Is almost as much importance
in the picking and packing of peaches
as in growing them. They must be
handled with the greatest of care in
order to avoid heavy losses II they
are to be shipped, they must be picked
as soon as colored and before they be-
come soft. Handle the fruit as little
as possible. 1t should be placed. when
picked. in the receptacle that is to con-
tain 1t until ready to ship. II peaches
are roughly tumbled from one basket
to another. they will become bruised
and decay rapidly. When packed for
shipment the fruit should be carefully
graded, according to size, degree of
ripeness, etc. Blemished fruit it does
not pay to ship. as one or two specked
or knotty specimens will lower the
value of an entire basket. The splint
baskets holding one peck are the best
size. Fruit should be packed carefully
and the basket filled up we'll, as 1t will
settle little from jolting. Then the
cover should be firmly put on. II of
splint, tack 1t firmly, and leave a little
space SO that the fruit may be seen.
Mark the grade Of fruit on the top of
the basket. If netting is used. put 1t
on tight, and mark the grade on the
side of the basket.
Evaporating Poor Apples.-It is said
that in Wayne County, N. Y. which is
not very large county, something like
million of bushels of apples were
evuporated last year, yielding product
worth 100000. AS most of this was
frvvit hot
have been marketed In any other form,
and some of 1t probably was Just good
enough and large enough to have
tempted the growers to try to work it
into the barrels If they could not have
utilized it as they did. and thereby less
ened the market value OF the better ap-
pies among which it would have been
put, we say blessings on the man who
invented the evaporator, and hope to
see them in more common use in New
England soon. They save fruit that
would go to waste or to worse than
waste, the cider barrel, and improve the
quality of the apples sent to market. If
those who use them will stop the arti-
fetal bleaching of their evaporated ap-
pies, the product will soon be more pop
ular. While farmers color their butter
and bleach their apples they should
not make much outcry about the shod-
dy goods sent out by manufacturers.-
American Cultivator.
Filling in Fruit Trees.-In reply to a
query regarding the advisability of fill
ing in an orchard around the trees the
Des Moines Register says: II on dry
ground the trees will endure the filling
up: for three years they will make
little growth and bear little If any
fruit. But when the nitrogen feeding
roots begin to extend upward and roots
begin to start from the buried stems,
they will begin to grow and bear. In
the vicinity Of our cities of the west
built on uneven ground we have had
hundreds OF object lessons dating back
for twenty-five years in the way of
filling up among trees of different ages.
The trees on rather wet ground filled
up three feet, soon die unless drainage
tiles are laid below the roots before
filling up. On dry upland with porous
subsoil the filled in trees have lived
longer and borne more fruit than
those standing at ordinary depth.-Ex.
last 1t has been decided that New York
is to have a botanical garden. The
state legislature Of 1893 passed law
making it mandatory upon the city to
provide $50 acres Of park land and to
appropriate 100000 for the purpose of
establishing a botanical garden, pro-
vided that within three years the citi- |
zens would contribute $3.50 900 for the |
same purpose. The money was raised
at meeting at Columbia College last
week. The individual contributions
ranged from $1,000 to $25.0OO.
The witch tree" OF Nevada and
southern California exudes or exhales
phosphorescent substance which makes
every branch, leaf and section of its
bark visible on the darkest night.