FORTIETH ANNUAL REPORT. 17 



DISCUSSION. 



Prof. Eustace — I would like to take two or three minutes and have 

 Mr. David Woodward, who is eighty-six years young, tell how he picks 

 and packs apples. 



Mr. Woodward — This is unexpected to be called upon to si)eak off- 

 handed on the subject of packing apples. Before speaking particularly 

 on that subject I would just like to say a word in regard to the matter 

 that Avas up for discussion this forenoon. First, in regard to pruning : I 

 do not prune so severely as some, but I give my trees a good thorough 

 pruning every year. Sometimes it is almost impossible to get the help 

 T would like, and have been obliged to take some that did not prove very 

 satisfactory. Indeed, some of these professional pruners I would shoot 

 as soon as they come on my place. (Applause). And there are graft- 

 ers that are no better. My eyesight is getting a little poor, and I cannot 

 do as well as I could once. I had a neighbor who was doing some 

 grafting, and I got him to come and do some for me, but he had not 

 done much till I said, ''That is enough — I don't want any more of that 

 kind of grafting" — he put in twice as many grafts as he should, and he 

 wanted to go up IS or 20 feet. When the piiining is done, I believe in 

 thorough spraying, but for some unaccountable reason my spraying this 

 year, especially on the Canada Eed, has not been successful on account 

 of the rust. I have had some trees that the fruit in it rusted so badly 

 that there was scarcely an apple that was merchantable. Then perhaps 

 the very next tree would have no rust at all. Just what is the cause I 

 can not ^ny. Some say it is the cold weather; others say it is the kind 

 of spray used, and still others something else. One of the main reasons 

 why I came to this meeting was to get some light on these subjects, but 

 so far I have not found out very much. 



Now in regard to picking apples. When the time comes, I like a 

 good crowd. I get if possible fifteen to twenty sorters. The apples 

 are picked in half-bushel baskets, and are drawn to the packing house 

 where they are emptied on a table. Then have girls do the sorting, grad- 

 ing them as fancy, seconds, thirds and fourths, and each goes to a sei>a- 

 rate place. Then the fancy are packed in boxes, with paper between every 

 layer, and they must be in so as not to shift about. The top and bottom 

 of the boxes should be sprung a little so as to take up the shrink. 



My apples are largely sold before they are picked. There is one 

 concern that I have been dealing Avith in Indiana, and usually arranged 

 for them by the carload. This year he made arrangements for a carload, 

 but the order was cancelled before the apples were shipped, and I have 

 that carload of apples still on hand, but that does not bother me, as I 

 can easily get rid of them around the holidays. 



There is one feature of apple raising that is really a trade of itself, and 

 that is the marketing of the apples. To work up a good trade and hold 

 it takes considerable time and some money, and then you must deliver the 

 goods true to name and of a quality that will prove the same every time, 

 and when you have established a reputation for handling first class 

 fruit, and you get the trade started, you mil forever have it. 



Mr. Smythe — I think Mr. Woodward told us at Kalamazoo that he 

 had planted an orchard last year, which he expected to live to eat apples 

 from it. I wish more of us had that kind of spirit. 

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