The Apple Crop and its Management. 173 > 



For home use and near market we find the bushel crate to be 

 both convenient and cheap, which we construct ad follows : twenty 

 pieces lath two feet long constitute the sides, top and bottom ; we 

 use ten-inch boards cut eleven inches lorjg. To these the lath 

 strips are nailed about one inch apart, using six-penny nails for 

 bottom and four-penny for the rest. These hold a fall bushel. 

 "We pack and nail up in the field, when they are ready for the 

 wagpn and store-room. These crates cost us about six cents each, 

 fifteen cents per barrel. They are at all times easily unpacked 

 and of good size for retailing, especially for early fruit, either in 

 one bushel or one-half bushel, free cases. 



What constitutes a winter apple? One that does not mature 

 its juices until winter. "Ripening" or maturing is a natural 

 process which requires a high temperature, and if allowed to be 

 completed upon the tree, the fruit will soon decay. If arrested at 

 the right stage of maturity by cold storage, the fruit will keep 

 indefinitely and ripen according to the degree of temperature it 

 has in the store-room. Most fruits are of best quality ripened 

 upon the tree, but the russety apples and pears are always best 

 when ripened in close quarters in our dry climate, as they lose 

 their juices by evaporation, and become tough and leathery if 

 exposed. 



This brings us to the important fact that not all varieties will 

 ripen and be their best under the same conditions of heat and 

 moisture. For example, we have some excellent summer and 

 autumn apples, which, if ripened in the heat of their seasons are 

 of fair quality, but which would not mature their juices in cold 

 weather and be of good flavor and texture. On the other hand, 

 we have those which hold their own and are vastly improved by 

 this prolonged ripening period. Of the two classes we will name 

 the Duchess, Tetofsky, Colvert and Ben Davis, all of which are 

 coarse in texture, and have diffuse juices, which can never become 

 good winter apples, even though they may not mature until cold 

 weather. For the other class I will name Summer Pearmain, 

 Talman Sweet, Golden Russet, Blue Pearmain, Baldwin, Wal- 

 bridge, all of which are best when ripened at a low temperarure 

 and in close quarters. Almost any little, fine grained seedling 



