218 Appendix. 



in center of tree, to which all wires from main stalks are fastened. 

 When this is done once, it is done for all time, during the life of the 

 tree. I then have a structure perfect in shape, and unexcelled in 

 strength. To this structure, which is a cylinder of limbs from three to 

 four feet in diameter, I tie up with strong twine all other limbs that 

 are too heavily loaded with fruit. 



I might add that out of four different kinds of twine that I have use:] 

 this season in tying up apple trees, I find that American spun, two-ply, 

 tarred hemp is the best and the cheapest in the end. The labor in 

 tying up a tree is the greatest expense. This tarred hemp will last at 

 least three years, after which the limb is either strong enough to carry 

 its load or large enough to receive the screw-eye and wire. After my 

 trees are supported as above described, it seems almost unnecessary to 

 state the advantages over the old method of using props. The trees will 

 remain in a better shape; fruit will be more uniform in color; no risk 

 of wind blowing down props, hence causing limbs to break. A less per 

 cent of fruit will be limb rubbed or blown off. You will have no props 

 to interfere with cultivation, no props to rub off half the bark where it 

 comes in contact with the limb. And there will be no props to haul in 

 and out of your orchard each year. I might add under this topic that 

 , the best method of tying two limbs together is to encircle both limbs 

 within one loop. This will require more twine, but will always retain 

 the limbs as desired, and will not embed itself into the bark of tree so 

 badly. The swaying of limb with wind will keep it loose, and as soon as 

 the fruit is removed, the twine and bark will be loosened or entirely 

 separated. This system of building and supporting a tree is rather 

 difficult to explain on paper so I will now illustrate it with a model tree 

 I have brought with me. I also have with me some photographs of trees 

 heavily loaded with fruit, which show them carrying their burden and 

 yet remaining upright and shapely. 



In picking your apples you should be careful in every detail. Pick 

 all apples as soon as they have attained their proper size, color, and 

 maturity. Do not pull off the fruit spurs, thereby destroying next 

 season's crop. See that your pickers do not bruise the apples. Handle 

 them as if they were eggs. I do not like the common practice of 

 picking apples in a bag tied over the shoulders or around the -vaist. 

 Every move of the body moves the apples in the bag. Every time you 

 lean against a limb, or come down the ladder and let the stack strike 

 against the steps you are bruising the apples. While these bruises are 

 small and may not be noticeable to you, yet the cold storage commission 

 man at the other end of the line will discover something is wrong. 

 Your apples will not keep well, and hence will not give satisfaction. The 

 next season he will seek other fields in v/hich to buy, or worse yet,. 

 offer a much lower price for your fruit. 



It is a very common practice to pick apples into the same boxes in 

 which they are to be shipped. If this must be done, do not let your 



