Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1912-12-13

with the idea of controlling the blister
mite. Lime-surphur and arsenate of
lead have been used during the last two
years for the later spraying at
strength of one to thirty-three gallons
of water and two pounds of arse
nate of lead to fifty gallons of water.
Three or four sprayings have been
given, and this has been satisfac-
tory. During the past five years con-
siderable trouble has been experienced
from canker end fire-blight, consider
able hold over" fire-blight being prev
alent in the orchard at the present time.
1t seems to be equally distributed over
Spies, Greetings and other varieties,
and is serious menace to the orchard.
1t is, however, in the method of pack
ing the fruit that Mr. Hemenway has
developed his most remarkable success.
He has about five hundred drop-handle
half-bushel baskets. The pickers are
not to fill them too full; they are paid
two cents a basket. The baskets are
hauled direct to the packing shed, where
they are graded direct to the barrel.
1t costs, for picking, packing and de-
livering a barrel to the railroad, about
S1.05. 1t is asserted that this is high,
but Mr.. Hemenway lives eight and one
half miles from the railroad and usually
has to engage men to help draw his
crop. The cost of hauling varies from
10 to Is % cents barrel, and Mr..
Hemenway arranges to have some
empty barrels at the station ready for
hauling back.
The men are allowed cent a barrel
for each empty, and haul 50 to 90 at a
load. The barrels are full-siZed flour
barrels, and cost about 81 cents each.
The cost of the railroad haul to New
York is p l2 cents a barrel, whereas
by boat through Lake Champlain, 1
Delaware and Hudson Canal and down
the Hudson it is 10 cents. The cars are
iced. All the apples of one kind are put
into a car each day if possible, or at the
most every second day, and carload is
picked every two days, so that the fruit
is cooled as rapidly as possible 1t is
then run into storage and sold when the
market is right.
Mr.. Hemenways method of picking
his fine Spies is in marked contrast to
that of some of his neighbors. On many
of the trees IN this locality excellent
fruit is grown without spraying, and in
years when there is a larger crop these
un fortunate individuals carefully collect
all of their fine fruit in bags, where it is
judiclously crushed and squeezed Oh its
way down on the rungs of the ladder and
then it is dumped into bags which are
thrown into wagons and finally carried
down the cellar steps and again dumped
into bins four or five feet deep. Inl
spring when it is desired to send out al
barrel of apples these are carried up the
cellar steps in bag and dumped into a /
barrel which eventually is headed upl
and shipped to Boston.
Under such conditions these men
sometimes wonder why they do not rel
ceive the same prices that their lucky
neighbor does. Nothing, perhaps, would
convince them that the whole difference
in the returns is due to their methods of
management. Apples must be handled
| like eggs; nothing will detract FRONT
their appearance so much as allowingI
them to drop even an inch. Mr.. Hem
enway's apples are graded so that any,
thing which is put in as extra fancy
is strictly extra fancy, and anything
whic is mo. /" is No. l.
| The lessons to be learned from Mr..
Hemenway's success ale these. First,
watchful care and culture of the trees !;
second, the utmost care in picking
grading and packing the fruit: third,
selecting a good commission man and
standing by him. 1t shows that man
can develop a reputation for produce
even when it is consigned to commission
men and secure adequate compensa-