290 State Horticultural Society. 



ini--lui-:nce of cultural conditions. 



There seems to be a wide difference in the keepino- quaHtv of the 

 same variety when grown under different conditions. It has been ob- 

 served that the Tompkins King, Hubbardston and Sutton apples from 

 rapid growing young trees ripen faster than smaller fruit from older, 

 slower growing trees, and therefore reach the end of their life historv 

 sooner. From older trees these varieties have ke])t well until the middle 

 of April, while from young trees the commercial storage limit is some- 

 times three months shorter. 



It has Ijeen observed that Rhode Island Greening, Alann and Raid- 

 win apples grown on sandv land ripen more rapidly than similar fruit 

 from clay land where all the other conditions of growth were similar. 



In the Southwest in the younger apple growing sections where the 

 orchards have been planted on new land, the trees grow rapidly and 

 produce an abundance of fruit, but under these conditions the keeping 

 quality of the fruit does not appear to equal that of the same variety 

 from older, slower growing trees. 



. It does not follow, however, that the longest keeping type of the 

 same variety is the most valuable. An apple that is large and highly 

 colored, brilliant in color, and with commanding style may be worth 

 50 per cent, more — though it will not keep longer than early winter — 

 than the same variety grown under other conditions that causes it to be 

 small and poorly colored, but giving it a keeping quality until the spring. 



INFLUENCL OF [HE TYPE OF PACKAGE. 



There has been a good deal of discussion concerning the relative 

 value of closed and ventilated barrels for apple storage. The investi- 

 gations indicate that the chief advantage of the ventilated package lies 

 in the greater .rapidity with which its contents cool oft'. Apples in a 

 ventilated package, if the ventilation is considerable, are checked in their 

 ripening processes sooner than those in a closed package, and the influ- 

 ence of the package in this respect is most marked with varieties that 

 ripen quickly and in hot weather. 



Apples in ventilated packages, however, are likely to shrivel if the 

 fruit is stored for any length of time, and it is, therefore, not practicable 

 under the present commercial methods of storage to store fruit in pack- 

 ages in which there is much exposure of the fruit to the air. 



The smaller the package the quicker the fruit cools oft, and there- 

 fore the sooner the ripening processes are checked. It has been observed 

 that apples keep longer in bushel boxes than in barrels on this account, 



