The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-09-01
Edited by r. Walden

is a question for the company to an
swer, not us.
But some one may ask, what can
you do in such cases?" We can COM
bine and ship in carload lots; we can
sell to a dealer at our station and
he can ship in carload lots. Both
these methods are now in use Thus
it can be seen that the express COM
pany is killing it's own business. The
company may say that it can not ham
die our fruits at the old rates. That
is all tommyrot. They could send our
apples to Seattle at 25 cents per box
and peaches at 10 cents, rather than
kill off the business by these exorbi-
tant charges and the company will
come to these rates or lose the bust
ness. l am as far from desiring any
company or individual to do business
without fair profit as any one can
be, but we will not allow the express
companies to make more in trans
porting our fruit to market in one
short day than we make in the whole
year by raising it. l have something
more to say about the express COM
panies and their methods, but these
things will be reserved for our next
issue.
We are nearing the time of year
for picking our crop of winter apples
and some of our horticultural papers
are discussing the question as to when
apples should be picked. In some of
these discussions are to be found some
strange things. For instance one man
says that apples should be left on
the trees as late as possible. If the
apples are to be used as soon as pick
ed that will do, but if they are to be
kept through the winter or a good
part of it, the advice is bad. If any
thing has ever been settled by ex-
perienced fruit growers or fruit hand
lers, it is that the sooner an apple
is picked and put into a cool place
after it natures, the better it will
keep. 1t must be borne in mind that
there is a difference between an ap-
pie being matured and mellowed ready
for use. Some winter apples are not
in the best condition for use till
months after they are picked, and
some, like the LAWYER, are never mel
low Some apples are soon ready for
use. These characteristics are what
distinguish long keepers from the
short keepers. Some seem to enter
tain the idea that an apple will grow
after it is mature, but that is a mis-
take. An apple may take on addi-
tional color after it is mature and
ceases to grow In fact it will change
color very materially after it is pick
ed and put away in it's winter quar-
ters. Notice the color of the New
towns and White Winters at the time
of picking and the first of February
or March. That golden yellow so char
acteristic of these two apples is rarely
ever secured till near the close of the
winter season, and these apples are
not SO fine in flavor till this golden
color is reached.
How may we know when an apple
is mature and therefore ready to pick?
The best sign is the color of the seed.
Nature aims at reproduction and that
means the producing of seed. The
apple as we look at it is merely the
pericarp intended to protect the seed
When the seeds are ripe then natures
work is done and the apple ceases to
grow. The color of the seed is the
chief test as to their ripeness. When
the seed is black the apple is ripe
or mature, and should be picked unless
we care more for additional color than
we do for long keeping. What we call
nrellowing is merely the preliminary
steps to decay. In natures workshop
the pericarp, which is the edible part
of the apple, must decay and drop
off the carpets before the seed can
drop out and reach the ground for re-
production. The reason why apples
put into cold storage keep so much
longer than in ordinary storage is that
heat is essential to decay. Anything
frozen cannot decay. Hence we read
of EXPLORERS finding the carcas ses of