KEEPING FALL AND WINTER APPLES. 



Origin — S. Worden, Minnetto, N.V., 

 from Concord seed. 



Vine ; strong vigorous grower, with 

 coarse stout foliage, dark green above, 

 rusty underneath ; very hardy, healthy 

 and very productive, often yielding at 

 the rate of three tons per acre. 



Bunch large, compact, shouldered. 



Berry large, black ; skin tender, thin, 

 with heavy bloom, cracks easily, flesh, 

 sweet when well ripened, pulp tender, 



and loses flavor soon after ripening ; a 

 poor keeper. 



Season, middle to end of September. 



Quality, third rate for dessert pur- 

 poses. 



Value, second late for near market, 

 and 4th rate for distant market. 



Adaptation — Well suited to the North- 

 ern sections because of its early ripen- 

 ing. 



KEEPING FALL AND WINTER APPLES. 



N order to keep well, apples must 

 be picked at the proper time. Care 

 must be exercised in handling to 

 prevent bruises, carefully assorting 

 the ripe from the unripe, the perfect 

 from the imperfect, and storing in a 

 cool, dry place, with plenty of pure air 

 free from all odors of decaying veget- 

 ables or other substances. The average 

 fruit grower does not exercise enough 

 caution in handling and assorting his 

 fruit. 



The degree of maturity will have much 

 to do with the keeping qualities. A late 

 fall or winter apple should be mature, 

 but not ripe, when it is picked, if it is 

 expected to be kept for any considerable 

 time. The process of ripening is only 

 the first stage of decay, and if this is 

 allowed to continue before picking, till 

 the apple is ripe, or mellow, this break- 

 ing down process has proceeded so far 

 that it is a difficult matter to arrest it. 

 As soon, therefore, as the stem will se- 

 parate freely from its union with the 

 branch, the apple is sufficiently mature 

 for storing. 



The proper temperature for keeping 

 apples is as nearly 35 degrees F., as it 

 is possible to keep it, and in order to 

 maintain this, it will often be necessary 

 to provide a separate place for storing 

 the fruit, as the average cellar under the 

 dwelling house is wholly unfit for this 

 purpose. If the cellar consists of sev- 

 eral compartments so that one can be 

 shut off completely from the others and 

 the temperature in this kept below 40 

 degrees, it will answer the purpose very 

 well. If this cannot be done, a cheap 

 storage house may be built in connec- 

 tion with the ice-house, by building a 

 room underneath, having it surrounded 

 with ice on the sides and overhead, with 

 facilities for drainage underneath, keep- 

 ing the air dry by means of chloride of 

 calcium placed on the floor in an open 

 water-tight vessel, such as a large milk 

 crock or pan. In this way the tempera- 

 ture may be kept very near the freezing 

 point the year round, and apples may 

 be kept almost indefinitely. — American 

 Agriculturist. 



446 



