IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME IX 



No. 104 



Edited by C- F. Ball. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



OCTOBER 

 1914 



The Storing and Ripening of Apples* 



Bv Jas. Scrimgeour. 



LIRR 



^E\v 

 eoTA^ 

 eiAKL 



Fruit growers generally have had much to 

 contend with during the season that is drawing 

 to a close. Early in the year exjiectAtions were 

 running high, as the fine season of 1913 ripened 

 up the wood and fruit buds. The result was 

 most encouraging and the trees studded with 

 fruit buds ; while uhe flowering season was 

 unparalleled with promise to the OAViier and also 

 a source of pleasure to the traveller. Unfor- 

 tunately the unexpected frost of the 24:th and 

 25th May, together with the extreme cold winds 

 that continued well into June, daunted the 

 growers' expectations. The damage was, how- 

 ever, over-estimated, and ultimately records 

 came forward that prospects were much better 

 than anticipated. In the south apples were set 

 before the frost came, while in the north the 

 trees were coming into flower. Climatic condi- 

 tions during summer were favourable, and crop, 

 colour, quality, and growth of trees were beyond 

 the expectations of the most pessimistic. 



Unfortunately the AVar broke out as the early 

 fruits were ripening, railways were comman- 

 deered, soldiers were on the move, and trade 

 generally in chaos ; while every one, realising the 

 magnitude of the undertaking our country had 

 in hands, resolved to live as economically as 

 possible. Therefore the prices realised for early 

 fruit were most disappointing to the growers, 

 as the quality and quantity were 50 per cent, 

 lietter than previous years, while the price was 

 40 per cent, lower than usual. 



The severe gales that passed over the country 

 generally on the 14ith ult. — and I take this from 

 the quantity of bruised a])ples that arrived in 

 the Dublin markets on the 18th in bags, barrels, 

 baskets, boxes, and all sorts of consignments 

 from all parts of the country — has been most 

 disappointing, as about two-thirds of the whole 

 crop must have been blown down. 



Bruised fruit will not keep, while the price is 

 far from remunerative to the grower. 

 Fruit gi'owers should, therefore, pay particular 



attention and care to the remainder, as the 

 quantity for storing is reduced considerably, and 

 once the glut of bruised " wind-falls " has been 

 disposed of prices should regulate themselves. 

 It is late keeping fruits that will command a 

 price in the spring months of the year when food 

 stuffs are getting scarce. 



To those about to store apples it should be 

 borne in mind that they should be well matured 

 and ready to come off the tree, otherwise they 

 will shrivel. They should be handled equally 

 as gentty as eggs, care being taken not to bruise 

 them, as one decaying apple contaminates those 

 around it. Apples will keep well in a cool, 

 moderately dry room or cellar, where an even 

 temperature of 45° can be maintained in all 

 weathers. The garret is a favourite fruit room 

 with most people ; but special precautions must 

 be taken against excessive dryness and variation 

 in temperature. A spare bedroom is also a most 

 convenient store-room, provided the windows 

 can be shuttered up to exclude the light, which 

 would tend to cause drvniess and shrivelling. 

 A dry frost-proof cellar makes an admiral) le 

 apple store, and anj' room approaching these 

 conditions will be most suital)le. In the 

 majority of large establishments where fruit is, 

 and has been, grown there is usually a well-fitted 

 fruit room, and the establishment would be 

 considered incomplete Avithout it. The old 

 system of pitting apples is not to be recom- 

 mended. Storing tra\-s can be had reasonably, 

 and these fit on the top of each other, thus 

 economising space and giving facilities for turn- 

 ing over each apple for examining purposes, and 

 also allowing air through the trays. 



Before gathering l^egins the grower should 

 ascertahi if his fruit is ripe. This is a problem 

 that is not easily solved by an amateur grower, 

 as climate, soil, culture, and a variety of condi- 

 tions underlying the cultivation will jiaturally 

 affect the ripening ])rocess in different locahties. 

 There are at least four tests of maturity that 



