HARVEST AND MARKETING CURRANTS, GOOSEBERRIES. 239 



Grading Berries for Market. 



For strictly commercial berry growing only a few varieties should 

 3)8 planted, and with expert pickers very little grading will be neces- 

 sary, but with thirty to forty varieties as we often have and some of 

 them worthless, under our conditions, grading becomes necessary. 

 Some pickers that have but one idea in view "to fill the box" are prone 

 to pick over ripe berries and green berries in the same box, the green 

 berries will not do for local markets nor the over-ripe for the distant 

 markets, so they must be turned out on a table and separated by 

 trained and trusty help. The ripe berries goes to the local market and 

 the unripe berriv'^s to distant markets, the green berries discarded, and 

 sometimes the picker "fired." When berries are good and pickers 

 -No. 1 it will not be necessary to grade except to place the last tier of 

 berry stems down, as that adds much to the attractiveness of the box. 

 Every berry should have one-half inch of stem, and no berry should go 

 to market without i'ts calyx. 



HARVESTING AXD MAKKETING CURRANTS AND GOC'SEBERRIES. 



"In harvesting currants for market purposes a particularly ciosw 

 watch must be kept of the pickers. The stem of each cluster should be 

 grasped above the fruit and removed from the bush without crushing 

 or loosening any of the berries. Only careful pickers will do this. It 

 Is so much easier tr> grasp the cluster of fruit as a whole and pull it 

 ■away than it is to take hold of the stem alone with the thumb and 

 finger. For this reason a variety which affords more space Decween mo 

 branch and the first berries of a cluster possess an advantage. Fay is a 

 good variety in this respect. While currants will stana shipmeni wen 

 if sound they will quickly spoil when torn from the stem and the skin 

 broken. 



Gooseberries are among the best of all our fruits to ship since they 

 are nearly always m?-rketed green. They can be handled like so many 

 beans and will stand up well under ordinary shippnig conditions. They 

 are, however, difficult to pick since the plants of all good varieties are 

 thorny. These thorns are stiff and strong and particularly troublesome 

 to the pickers. One method of picking sometimes practiced which, 

 obviate the difficulty in part is to wear gloves and strip the fruit from 

 the bushes into trays or dishes. They are then run through a fanning 

 mill to blow out the leaves and other light refuse. If picked while still 

 perfectly green and firm this method is entirely feasible. 



The five or ten pound grape basket makes a very convenient and 

 satisfactory package for marketing these fruits, particularly goose- 

 "berries though they are often marketed in the quart box." — Extract 

 from Bulletin 4, 1912, Massachuetts State Board of Agriculture. 



