Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-07-07
Oregon Agricultural College Man Gives
Some Pointers That Are Of Much
Importance.
CAREFUL WORK WOULD
BEGIN RIGHT AT TREES
Fruit Must Never Be In Ripe Condition
When Shipped and Must Not Be
Bruised at All.

oS'OAei Othct PaItS VI bho otatVJ 10
loaded with heavy peach crop which
many of the growers do not know how
10 handle prOfitably. Prof C. l. Lewis,
head of the division Of horticulture,
at the Oregon Agricultural college,
gives the following advice.
"All in all, the peach is one of the
poorest established fruit crops in the
Pacific northwest" says Prof. Lewis.
"With us it is largely case of feast
or famine. During the years of heavy
crops it is often hard for us to dispose
of the crop with profit, while in Cali
fOrnia, to the south of us, the peach
industry, many times as large as ours,
is handled very profitably. They ship
only small percentage of the fruit
in the green state, but dry and can
a large portion of the crop.
"One reason why we have not done
better with the peach for many years
is that we have not handled it we'll. If
peaches are not handled skillfully they
arrive in the market in a very poor
condition, and consequently bring low
prices, There is no fruit upon which
it is harder to give good advice in
handling than the peach. It is a fruit
where personal experience is necessary.
The careful handling should begin at
the time the fruit is taken from the
trees.
"It is always desirable to have as
much color on the fruit as possible.
With some varieties that must be
shipped long distances, of course it is
impossible to let them develop much
color, but for short shipping distances
more color can be allowed to develop
before the fruit is picked. When shipped
the fruit must never be in a ripe con
dition.
"The color may or may not be an
index as to the time to pick the peach.
Many rules ire given. With the yellow
peach, It is generally picked when the
greens begin to tighten and traces Of
yellow begin to show. The touch is
sometimes used as an indication, the
peach being pressed lightly with the
thumb on the outer side. Care must
be taken, however, not to press too
hard, and the thumb and finger nails
or the packers should be trimmed down
closely. It is easy to ruin the shipping
quality Of your peaches by jabbing the
finger nail into them or pressing 80
hard that they nre bruised and turn
brown and black.
Do Not Soil Fruit.
"Take great care not to get the
peaches soiled If dirt gets on the fuzz
it is almost impossible to get it out.
Pick in small receptacles, baskets or
small pals lined with burlap. Do not
handle the peaches more often than is
absolutely necessary. Plan to pack di-
rectly from the picking basket to the
boxes. II picked in too large recep.
tacles and allowed to stand around they
will tend to become mellow and ripen
too rapidly. In hauling them from the
orchard to the packing shed be sure not
TO get them shaken up much If you
do not have packing house, use some
shed, or put up tent or sheet so as
TO shield the fruit from the sun. Handle
the fruit as rapidly as possible Do
not allow the peaches to become over
heated If you can help it. AS soon as
packed in boxes, get them placed in
n cool location. In shipping carload
lots, send under refrigeration. It is
sometimes better to pick in the late af-
tenoon and pack the boxes in the cool
of the evening In most parts Of the
northwest the nights are cool, so that
the fruit would generally be in good
condition in the early morning,
SIN your packing shed you could
make room for three boxes. Three
packing boxes, Gull box and basket
which contains the fruit, should be pro.
vided for every package, as there will
probably be about three grades of
peaches to be packed, and the packing
should be done directly from the pick
ing receptacle. Do not dump out and |
pour out the peaches onto tables and |
into boxes, for you can't do much of
this withoot getting them bruised II
the fruit is damaged certain moulds
and rots win soon start and the entire
bOx Of peaches win be ruined before
they arrive in the market, Gull out
very carefully all damaged fruit,
Get Boxes According TO Size.
ain ordering your boxes you win
want TO get various sizes, probably
according to the size Of your peaches.
The length and width of the boxes
are all the same, 1919 inches by 11ia /
inches, inside measurement, but the
depth varies. There are seven different
peach boxes used on the coast, The 21g
inch, 2 inch, 3ia inch, 4 inch, AZ inch,
5 inch, and 5id inch The reason for
This pnriniinn In the dnnth Of tho hnxna