APPLES AND ORCHARDS. 43 



trees are loaded too much, and they fall off. Pick the largest 

 apples, pick them early and put them on the market, and you will 

 get a good price for them. That thins the tree out so that the 

 apples that are left have a better chance to develop. That is one 

 way to get early apples ; pick the largest apples off the trees as 

 soon as they are ready to pick, and they are bought readily for 

 green apples. Green apple pies, you know they are good, and 

 green apple sauce you know is good ; and they bring a good price. 



Mr. Vollenweider : I have Duchess in my orchards, and I 

 favor the Duchess. I do like Mr. Underwood says. I go to 

 work and thin my Duchess and barrel them up and ship them to 

 Minneapolis. They sell there for $3.75 a barrel. That gives me 

 a better chance on the others, and they come along, and I get a 

 good price for them. Last year when the Chicago markets were 

 flooded with apples they told me I would lose money to ship my 

 apples down there, but I did so and they brought me $3.75 a 

 barrel when I couldn't have sold them at home for twenty-five 

 cents a bushel. I thought I would set out some more Duchess 

 because I like them as well as any other kind. 



Mr. Hall : I would like to ask Mr. Smith to tell us how to 

 raise the best apples for exhibit purposes. 



Mr. Smith: In 1909 and 1911 here is what we did. When 

 we picked our apples, we picked three barrels of the very finest 

 apples that were in the orchard. These were wrapped in paper 

 at that time, and about three weeks later the apples were again 

 picked over and the best picked out of those, from which we 

 succeeded in getting one barrel. These were shipped by express 

 to Spokane, and those were the apples which took prizes in 1909 

 and 1911. This year we picked a box of the finest Wealthys 

 we had and sent them to cold storage. I unpacked them yester- 

 day. They had evidently been weighed down with about a ton 

 of something else, and every apple was jammed. The apples were 

 all right, but the method of handling has probably prevented 

 them from being prize winners. So, as careful as you may be, 

 someone else may spoil all your care. 



Mr. Hawley: I wanted to know as to the method of pro- 

 cedure of thinning, when you do it and how much thinning you 

 do, whether it would be advisable or not. 



Mr. Smith : We commenced to thin our apples the latter 

 part of August. We sent some to market too soon. They ought 

 never to be thinned until they begin to be colored a little, else 

 you will get a very low price. As soon as they begin to color a 

 little, if you wish to market them that way, pick the biggest 

 and the best. 



