FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 107 



too ripe and soft on the third day to be profitably handled for long dis- 

 tance shipments. All this means that the grower must be ready and 

 waiting for the fruit to mature. A well ordered packing house that 

 has facilities for handling, grading and packing the fruit is a very im- 

 portant adjunct to every fruit farm. 



No one thing, perhaps, has more effect on the output of a fruit farm 

 than the manner in which the fruit is graded and packed. It is gener- 

 ally recognized that fruit must be handled ^^^th great care if it is to be 

 kept sound, but few have realized, until it has been demonstrated to 

 them, how easy it is to injure fruit in handling and how much injury 

 is actually being done. It has been shown that the moulds generally 

 gain entrance through mechanical bruises of the skin made in the 

 handling of fruit in preparing it for market. Some common forms of 

 such injuries are the bruises and scratches made in the picking of the 

 fruit, in squeezing it and dropping it roughly into picking boxes, bags, 

 baskets, or in pouring it from the field bag or baskets into boxes. 

 Hauling on springless wagons may seriously bruise the fruit. Dirt, 

 dried branches or twigs in the bottom of the field boxes are also a 

 frequent source of injury. Injuries of these types are not only difficult 

 to detect but offer ideal conditions for the starting of decay. It has 

 been remarked that it requires an artist to select fancy exhibition fruit 

 for the fairs, but this may be extended. It requires an artist to grade 

 and pack fancy fruit. There are few people w-ho really can do it or, at 

 least, few who do it. Of course, all the fruit cannot be grown fancy, 

 and two, or sometimes three or more grades are frequently shipped — 

 all good marketable fruit. Nearby points can sometimes be utilized in 

 shipping of that which is too ripe to carry long distances. Culls, 

 bruised specimens, and wormy fruit should always be kept out of the 

 standard grade, but they can often be utilized for canning, evaporating, 

 making into cider, etc. At any rate, nearly all the fruit has a place 

 somewhere and it is the duty of the marketer to sort his fruit and put 

 every grade in its place. 



We must not stop with the better methods of growing, packing and 

 marketing our fruits; but we want to educate the people to eat more 

 fruit, thus creating a greater demand. By reason of a suggestion I 

 would submit as "slogan" for the fruit growers "Eat an ai)ple every day 

 — keeps the doctor away" or Health's best way — eat fruits every day." 



If you use these slogans at the fairs, conventions, etc., the public 

 press are bound to use it in reporting it as news matter. It Avould also 

 become known if used in our daily papers when advertising. Or, if 

 need be, place a neatly printed card of an apple, peach, etc., and the 

 slogan printed on it in each barrel or box. The idea involves the thought 

 that the slogan will create a larger consumption of fruits and a liberal 

 supply of health, all of which should help in advertising our fruits and 

 creating a world of friends and advocates of the use of fruits. 



