484 



GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



i486. 1 is a hoop of light iron rod ; 2, a net-bag appended to it, after tho- 

 manner of a landing-net ; 3, three teeth set with a curve just a little higher 

 than the hoop. These teeth may be made of the same wire as the hoop ; but 



they should be covered with cloth or 

 some soft material to prevent bruis- 

 ing the fruit ; 4 is a wooden shaft or 

 handle, which may be extended to 

 any length, after the manner of a 

 fishing-rod. In this case it is desir- 

 able that the teeth should be set at 

 such an angle with the rim, and the- 

 rim at such an angle with the shaft, 

 as to insure the fruit falling into the 

 net. This, of course, though very 

 easy of adjustment, cannot well be 

 represented on paper. It would be 

 well if the joint between the shaft 

 and the rim could be made movable. 

 With such an instrument, havmg a jointed shaft as described, fruit may be 

 safely and expeditiously gathered from the ground ofi" the very points of the 

 outside branches, which otherwise are very difficult to be got at, and where, 

 not unfrequently, the finest fruit is to be found. 



1487. With regard to the choicer sorts of pears, especially those growing: 

 on trees against walls, or on dwarf-trees, it will well repay the little extra 

 time and trouble it may cause to gather these by their stalks without touching 

 them with the hand, and to remove them at once to the fruit-room on the 

 trays or in the drawers in which they are to be stored. There is on the skin of all 

 fruit a secretion more or less marked, known commonly by the name of bloom. 

 This, though less conspicuous on apples and pears than on plums and peaches, 

 is nevertheless present, and its use is to protect the skin of the fruit from the 

 ill effects of excessive moisture. While this bloom can be preserved, the fruit 

 will never require wiping, and will retain its full flavour and freshness. The- 

 season of fruit -gathering must be consid ered to be the most important in the year. 

 All other seasons are to be regarded as preparatory to this, which is to reward 

 the cultivator for his past care and labour. Five or six weeks in autumn, — 

 earlier or later according to the season, and according to situation also, are 

 usually given to the gathering, collecting, and storing of the different varieties 

 of apples and pears, which, in our country, are known as autumn fruits. In 

 a commercial point of view, the result of this season has a most important 

 bearing. The difiference between a good and bad apple and pear crop is to be 

 measured by many thousands of pounds ; and what household is there, whether 

 among rich or poor, which knows not the luxury of an abundant autumn, 

 and the inconvenience — to say nothing of the pecuniaiy loss — when some of 

 the many accidents to which our fruit-trees are liable, have deprived us of our- 

 utumn crops, or left us only a poor and indifferent supply for our winter 



