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TIIK MONTHLY lil'LI,KTIX. 



APPLE GROWING AND TRANSPORTATION. 



By J. F. Benton, County Horticultural C nissioner, Eureka, Cal 



The small apple grower, the man with five to 50 acres of orchard, the man with 

 whom the majority of the county horticultural commissioners come in contact, is 

 rapidly learning from experience the value of well-grown, well-graded fruit, packed 



in an attractive manner. Compensation received for 

 a fancy article always justifies the labor and expense 

 of careful production and transportation. 



The man who has availed himself of the ample 

 opportunities presented in the past few years, by 



tli lueatioual activities in operation in this state. 



is now entering into an era of profit and satisfaction : 

 a profit well earned and the satisfaction of honest 

 labor well performed. 



He who has allowed himself to be governed by slip- 

 shod methods, who has been satisfied to dream away 

 the hours in anticipation of the golden harvest, and 

 who has been unwilling to heed "the handwriting on 

 the wall," suddenly finds himself rudely awakened. 

 The fact that his golden harvest has resulted in a 

 "mess of pottage" undesirable to the consumer, a 

 thing condemned as a public nuisance, unfit for sale 

 or transportation, confronts him. 



The production of commercial apples, for sale and 

 transportation, results from a series of well-defined 

 operations executed in an intelligent manner, the 

 main factors entering into the business being pruning, spraying, cultivating, thin- 

 ning, picking, grading, packing and transportation. The neglect to give careful 

 attention to any one of these points may result in a material reduction in the 

 compensation received for the finished crop. 



Systematic, annual pruning of producing apple trees, carried on intelligently, 

 should result in : Sufficient thinning out to admit air and sunlight ; heading back to 

 bring tree within easy reach of spraying or pruning operations; cutting back long 

 willowy growth to stiffen main laterals, thus forcing fruit spurs onto strong carrying 

 wood. 



The well-pruned tree is approached by the man with the spray outfit with confidence. 

 He knows he will be able to reach each portion with the utmost economy of power 

 and material. His knowledge of the results to be obtained is essential. He sprays, 

 to protect the tree and branches from fungous attacks ; to kill insect eggs and reduce 

 scale insects ; to protect buds and blossoms from insects and fungi ; to preserve the 

 foliage ; to protect fruit from fungi and insects. With these objects in view the 

 successful apple grower performs his task. 



Failure to cultivate promptly, thus allowing the soil to become hard, cracked, open 

 or weedy, results in loss of moisture and may materially reduce production. Culti- 

 vation is for the purpose of conserving moisture, destroying weeds, and aerating and 

 warming the soil. The proper soil condition maintained by thorough cultivation is a 

 factor often overlooked in apple growing. 



Thinning overproducing trees pays well. The results to be obtained may be 

 enumerated thus : first, thinning maintains tree vigor ; second, induces annual crops 

 instead of alternate; third, produces fruit of maximum size, color and quality. 

 Observation has proven conclusively that overproduction results in poorly-developed 

 crops, the greater portion unsalable. On the other hand, the overproducing tree 

 thinned to its carrying capacity produces as many boxes of salable size fruit as the 

 unthinned tree produces of unsalable and salable together. I make money each year 

 by thinning my trees and to those who have not practiced this economy I would 

 suggest giving this important factor a trial. 



Generally there should he more than one picking. The first time select only 

 matured fruit, allowing balance to grow into money. The time to pick should be 

 governed by variety. The experienced man can judge by the condition of the tree. 

 The brown seed denotes maturity, which is also determined by color in some varieties, 

 while size governs the picking time of others. Pickers should be furnished with 

 strong, light ladders to conform to the size of the tree. The canvas bottom draw- 

 string picking bucket is considered most desirable. Pickers should use their head 

 as well as their hands in picking fruit and in treatment of the tree. 



