WINTER MEETING. 147 



not over lifty trees have died, and most of those were eaten oflf by 

 mice getting inside of wrappers and making nests, or by drowning oat 

 in low, wet places. 



I have omitted many details of planting which have been written 

 of so much that all are familiar with them, and I did not wish to take 

 j^our valuable time with a repetition of them. 



FRA.NK HA-MMOn, Amoret, Mo. 



Then followed the paper 



How to Take Care of Apples. 



To be able to properly care for and handle our fruits after they 

 are harvested, so as to be able to realize the most possible out of 

 them, is as much a part of the necessary education of the would-be 

 successful fruit-grower as to be able to successfully grow them. The 

 large fruit-raisers who make it their especial business fully realize this 

 and prepare themselves with properly constructed fruit-houses or 

 cellars, or take advantage of cold storage in their immediate vicinity, 

 «o that if the market is not satisfactory at gathering time they can 

 «tore their fruit away until better prices prevail. They know that 

 better prices are almost certain to prevail as soon as the surplus 

 crowded on to the market at gathering time is out of the way. 



A large proportion of our farmers have some portion of their 

 farms devoted to orchards. These orchards could, if properly handled, 

 be made to pay far better than any other part of the farms. But the 

 most of these farmers, even if they succeed in raising good fruit, are 

 not prepared in any way to store it so as to be able to take advantage 

 of the market, but are compelled to rush their fruit to market as soon 

 as gathered and sell it for what they can get. The fruit cannot be kept 

 because it has to be sold, and sold at once, or it is lost. Their neigh- 

 bors are pretty much all of them in the same fix, and the result is that 

 during the few weeks immediately after gathering and before cold 

 weather sets in there is such a large amount of fruit dumped on the 

 local market as to glut the market and demoralize prices. And in too 

 large a number of cases the growers who are thus forced to get rid of 

 their fruit as soon as it is gathered take just as little care in gathering 

 as they do in preparing themselves for taking care of it after it is 

 gathered, so that it comes to market usually in bad shape and com- 

 mands low prices. 



Too large a number bestow very little care either on their trees or 

 fruit. Waen gathering time comes the fruit is too often shook or 



