50 Third Annual Report 



feet fruit in stora^^e and take out good. For best results, apples, 

 as a rule, should not be picked before they arc fairly well colored. 

 The Baldwin for example if poorly colored is more liable to 

 scald than when well colored. Different varieties of apples vary 

 in their ability to withstand scald while in storage. An apple 

 should not be left on the tree until it is overripe before being 

 picked or its life will be short even in cold storage. 



Apples that are to be stored should not be put in heaps on 

 the ground or kept in a warm place for any considerable length 

 of time before being stored for they ripen much faster after 

 being picked than when hanging on the tree. An apple that 

 begins to ripen before it is placed in cold storage will continue 

 to ripen after it is stored, but much slower. While an apple that 

 is picked at the proper time and placed at once in cold storage 

 will keep almost indefinitely. 



The advantage of a cold storage house to the orchardist 

 may be summed up as follows : 



The time required to gather his crop can be shortened as 

 all of the help can be kept picking the fruit instead of a part 

 sorting and barreling as one is obliged to do if the fruit is to be 

 shipped. 



The cheaper grades of fruit such as the dropped fruit can 

 be kept until the glut caused by this class of fruit is past when 

 better prices can be realized. 



The work of sorting and barreling the fruit can be done 

 later in the season when help is more plentiful than at picking 

 time. 



The grower has a longer time in which to market his fruit 

 and a chance to take advantage of any rise in prices. 



The loss from decay and shrinkage of the fruit while in 

 storage is reduced to a minimum. 



Marketing Fruit — Closely connected with the storing of 

 fruit is its marketing, and from the discussion that has been 

 going on in our agricultural and horticultural papers the barrel 

 and box question has been made one of the most prominent. The 

 grower of apples has been advised in the majority of cases to 

 pack and market his fruit in boxes, but he is told that only the 

 best fruit should be shipped in boxes. 



The prices obtained for boxed fruit from the Pacific slope 

 and for choice selected fruit packed in boxes by eastern growers 

 are given as the ruling price paid for boxed apples, and the 

 reader gets the impression that to the box and not to the superior 

 quality of the fruit is to be given the credit for the extra price 

 received. 



The apple trade of New England today calls for barrels 

 and not boxes. The retail dealers of our cities obtain their sup- 



