GRAND RIVER VALLEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 525 



growers is the result of careless handling. Some men will shake off apples, 

 pick them np, and empty them from the baskets as they do potatoes, and then 

 wonder why they don't keep. 



Too much care cannot be taken in handling fruit designed for late keeping. 

 Of course there is a great difference in varieties in this respect ; some of the 

 dryer, tough-skinned sorts will bear slight bruising with impunity, while juicy, 

 thin-skinned sorts— as the Northern Spy — must be handled as you would 

 handle eggs. 



For picking apples I consider a nimble pair of hands the best apparatus ever 

 invented, the only question being, how to reach the fruit to be picked. Many 

 of the step-ladders used for this purpose I consider a nuisance, — especially those 

 with double sides and platform tops, so common in my vicinity. 



When using one of them it seems as though an apple could hardly fall to 

 the ground without hitting it somewhere, frequently bounding from step to 

 step on its way down. While step-ladders may sometimes be useful, I prefer 

 light ladders of suitable length. 



Some people show astonishing ignorance of the law of gravitation in setting 

 up a fruit ladder, frequently resting it upon weak limbs at an angle of forty- 

 five degrees, only to learn wisdom by experience. Fruit on the outermost 

 limbs is frequently difficult of access, the branches not seeming to be of the 

 requisite strength or stiffness to support the ladder and picker, but by setting 

 the ladder nearly perpendicular and resting only its outer side against the 

 limb, the limb will bend around as you climb until both sides rest against it 

 and you pick with safety. A hook with a handle four or five feet long to pull 

 in limbs just out of reach, will be found of use, and can be hung on a round of 

 the ladder when not in use. A tongue ladder will frequently be very handy. 

 As to the proper time for gathering fruit, very much depends on the season 

 and maturity. For myself, unless the fruit shows signs of softening, I incline 

 to as late gathering as is safe. Fruit should be dry when picked, especially if 

 barreled. 



In picking do not pull toward you ; a slight twist of the wrist will part the 

 stem from its twig and not cause others to fall. 



Have a hook attached to your pail or basket, by which to hang it to ladder 

 or limb. Do not toss the fruit in, lay it in as quickly as you please, but care- 

 fully. In picking from the center of the tree a cord or strap with a snap 

 attached is convenient to lower the basket to a man on the ground, who can 

 change and empty the baskets, thus saving delay and much extra climbing. 

 Avoid handling as much as possible, sorting from the basket in which it is 

 picked into the barrel, rejecting all that is wormy or inferior. I think it is 

 generally conceded that apples keep better in barrels than in bins. Some 

 prefer to head up immediately, others let them pass through the sweating 

 process before heading up. Which of these two methods is the better ? I 

 have not yet sufficiently experimented to advise. My own practice has been 

 to let them stand open for a while. They should be put where they will keep 

 coolest and of most uniform temperature. A shed or building open on the 

 north is best. As soon as there is real danger of freezing remove to the cellar. 



Don't smother your cellar, but while taking every needed precaution against 

 freezing, let it have good ventilation and outside air whenever the air will per- 

 mit. Keep the temperature as near the freezing point as you dare, and watch 

 closely. The cellar should be dry, — not too dry, or the fruit will wilt. In 

 some cellars, though cool, fruit wilts badly, losing in bulk and appearance very 



