Page- 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



October 



Figure 3 — Fruit being unloaded on upper floor. Note fruit is being placed on 



gravity carriers. The wagon used is a good type and the tarpaulin on it aids 



in keeping the fruit clean. 



condition. Our problem is to see if we 

 cannot liandle our fruit in such a way 

 tliat the consumer can get the benefit of 

 the superb quality and finish, and sec- 

 ond, that we put this fruit in his hands 

 at a lower cost than we have formerly 

 been able to accomplish. 



Harvesting. 



There are two conclusions that stu- 

 dents of the methods of harvesting in 

 the Northwest will invariably come to; 

 lirst, that we don't pick enough of our 

 fruit at the right time, allowing a very 

 large percentage of it to become over- 

 mature, and second, that we allow too 

 much delay between the time the fruit 

 is harvested and the time it is packed. 

 While some of our fruit is picked too 

 green, resulting in poor quality and a 

 development of storage scald, neverthe- 

 less a very large percentage of our fruit 

 stays on the trees far too long. This is 

 due to the fact that our growers arc 

 over-anxious to obtain the maximum 

 amount of color. Though the writer 

 can remember when the Jonathan apple 

 on the whole was picked from ten days 

 to two weeks later than is now the 

 practice, nevertheless far too many 

 .lonathans are today allowed to remain 

 on the tree too long. There is an enor- 

 mous amount of deterioration which 

 takes place in our fruit owing to this 

 delay in harvesting. For example, many 

 apples develop a sort of core rot. This 

 is especially noticed in such varieties 

 as the .lonathan, Delicious, Gravenstein 

 and Ortley. Many varieties develop a 

 dryness and mealiness of flesh, lack of 

 Juice, and are devoid of real snap and 

 high quality. This is found very com- 

 monly in such varieties as Spitzenburg, 

 .lonathan, Baldwin, Delicious and Wag- 

 ener. In fact, nearly all of the fall and 

 early winter varieties are subject to this 

 deterioration. A splitting at the calyx 

 is very pronounced, and is not confined 

 to any one variety, but is found preva- 

 lent in nearly all varieties. This calyx 



cracking and splitting at the stem is 

 almost invariably due to an over-matur- 

 ity of the fruit. In many red apples a 

 noticeable black pitting is found in the 

 flesh. There is a slight depression in 

 the skin, which becomes black. This is 

 especially noticeable in the Spitzen- 

 burg, Jonathan and Baldwin. The 

 length of the keeping season of many 

 of our apples is greatly reduced because 

 of this delay in harvesting. The writer 

 once carried on some experiments with 

 fall and winter varieties along these 

 lines, and it was found that by picking 

 at the right time many fall varieties 

 could be carried well into the winter, 

 while with the late keepers, such as the 

 Yellow Nev^'town, two months' differ- 

 ence in the keeping quality was the re- 



sult of a period of a week to two weeks' 

 difference in the time of harvesting. 

 With many of our apples it is going to 

 be necessary to have several pickings. 

 This is especially noticed in the Grav- 

 enstein, and will be especially true in 

 fall and early winter varieties. The 

 Jonathan, for example, could often be 

 I)icked to advantage with several pick- 

 ings rather than a single picking, if we 

 keep in mind the highest quality of the 

 fruit. In College Bulletin 118, entitled 

 "Handling the Fruit Crop," the writer 

 lias given the characteristics of many 

 varieties, which might aid the grower 

 in determining the proper time for har- 

 vest. In that bulletin also he has dis- 

 cussed many subjects on packing and 

 harvesting which will not be repeated 

 here. 



We need to organize our harvesting 

 more than we have done in the past, to 

 have a proper division of labor between 

 the pickers, graders and packers. The 

 day is coming when we are going to 

 follow quite closely the footsteps of 

 many of the orange growers. We will 

 be organized into groups, associations 

 or organizations of various kinds, where 

 all the equipment will be held and 

 owned by the organization, and such 

 organization, whether it be a fruit 

 growers' association or corporation, 

 will have absolute control of the har- 

 vesting, will take charge of the same, 

 and the grower will simply become one 

 of the community workers in the gen- 

 eral scheme. In other words, we are 

 drifting very rapidly to the community 

 idea in handling our fruit, and what 

 progress we have made seems to indi- 

 cate that the movement is a wise one, 

 which will result in an improvement in 

 methods and a standardization that we 

 can perhaps accomplish in no other 

 way. 



The fruit is allowed to remain in the 

 orchard far too long after it is har- 

 vested. While many growers make the 

 attempt not to allow the fruit to remain 



l-"it,lHF, I- 



■"riUt coming into tenipor: 

 Man in background is 



[iry storage room on a t;i;i\it> lairicr. 

 unloading from wagon. 



