378 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



atcly sent me an order for fifty barrels, saying: — "I will pay your price for 

 them provided you send me as fine apples as you sen^ your friends. I never 

 saw apples come out o( a barrel in such fine condition. For years I have been 

 buying apples in New York, and I generally get the little ones in the middle of 

 the barrel; yours had the best apples in the middle." 



Geo. A. Cochrane, of England, who has for many years been connected with 

 the frnit trade, fully realizing the difficulty of transporting apples in good 

 order from America to England proposes a remedy. He found that a large 

 portion of the apples shipped to Liverpool came out rotten, although when put 

 on board the steamers they were in sound condition. Some lots he had to sell 

 at from two to three shillings a barrel, wliile for others he got 18 to 20 shillings. 

 Those stored in the forward part of the vessel generally came out better than 

 those in the after part, because the air forward was generally cooler. But, in 

 order to entirely obviate the difficulty, and preserve the fruit in good condition, 

 he proposes to have the apples packed in boxes similar to egg cases, with per- 

 forations to allow the foul air to escape, and stowed in the fore part of the vessel, 

 where plenty of cool, fresh air could be circulated. He would treat apples as 

 living fruits by keeping them in an atmosphere not higher than 35 or 40 

 degrees, with earth in the bottom of the vessel to attract the foul gas. He 

 experimented with this process, and found it entirely successful. 



STORING APPLES. 



A farmer near Ft. Wayne, Indiana, wTites the Grange Bulletin concerning 

 the storing of apples as follows : 



Every season the question is agitated at farmers' clubs and elsewhere in rela- 

 tion to the merits of wet and dry cellars for storing apples. It seems to me 

 that both observation and experience have taught that a warm, dry cellar is 

 one of the v/orst possible storage places for apples. If apples are to be stored 

 in a cellar at all, let it be a damp one, with means for ventilation. The best 

 place for apples, according to my belief — and this is based on experience — is a 

 cool, well ventilated spot, where the temperature is a uniform one, and just 

 above freezing point. Houses above ground are better, in my opinion, than 

 are cellars for this purpose. I have never had any experience in burying apples 

 in the earth, but incline to the opinion that apples thus kept will be of peculiar 



flavor, a flavor not altogether pleasant. 

 ************** 



The American Garden makes a good point upon this same subject: 

 In whatever respects the views of fruit-growers may differ as regards the best 

 methods of keeping apples, all are agreed that apples, in order to keep well, 

 should be picked as soon as their stems separate easily from the tree, i. e., as 

 Boon as they are ripe. Every day's delay alter that period lessons their keeping 

 qualities. They should also be kept in as cool a place as possible, without 

 actually freezing. 



