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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



dead ripe when stored, were, on November 

 15, lacking in both texture and flavor. They 

 were soft and in some cases discolored and 

 the flavor was becoming flat. 



THE EFFECT OF WRAPPING. 



Comparing the unwrapped apples with 

 those wrapped; on November 15 no decay 

 was found in the latter, while in the former 

 two or three specimens were removed. The 

 flavor of the wrapped specimens was, if 

 anything, slightly better than the other. 

 The third lot, wrapped more carefully in 

 double wrappings of paper, showed a per- 

 ceptible improvement over the newspaper- 

 wrapped lot. However, it is doubtful if 

 the extra gain was worth the extra trouble 

 and outlay. Sawdust was found, in this 

 case, to be a very undesirable material in 

 which to store fruit. 



Similar experiments were made with the 

 Langford Beauty and the Fall St. Lawrence. 

 Both are typical varieties of non-keeping, 

 early fall apples. The Fall St. Lawrenc^ 

 apples were placed unwrapped in three 

 bushel boxes, each box representing a dif- 

 ferent packing. Some were picked on Sep- 

 tember 12 and were rather immature. 

 These did not improve as the storage period 

 advanced. Others picked on September 

 18 were almost perfect. They had reached 

 their limit on December r, but were then 

 perfect. Others picked on September 27 

 were fully matured. They lost their flavor 

 earlier than did those of the former lot. 



The Langford Beauty specimens were 

 also placed, unwrapped, in bushel boxes. 

 They showed the same tendencies as the 

 other varieties. The earlier picked lot re- 

 tained their immature flavor throughout the 

 experiment. Their texture also remained 

 perfect throughout. Those picked on Sep- 

 tember 7 were almost fully mature and 

 were perfect on November 15. but had then 

 reached their limit. The peculiarity of this 

 variety seemed to be its early loss of flavor, 

 the texture remaining firm. 



BENEFITS OF WRAPPING. 



A separate experiment was carried on 

 with the Tetofski apple to ascertain the 

 benefits of wrapping fruit. The Tetofski 

 is a very early variety, and it is found par- 

 ticularly difficult to keep it for any length 

 of time after maturity. Consequently it is 

 a very suitable variety with which to test 

 more fully the benefits of wrapping. The 

 apples were placed in four bushel boxes on 

 August I, when they were almost ripe. The 

 same methods of wrapping were employed 

 as in experiment i, namely, (i) unwrapped, 

 (2) wrapped in newspaper, (3) wrapped in 

 tissue paper and waxed paper, (4) packed 

 in sawdust. 



The results obtained were practically the 

 same as with the Duchess apple, with the 

 exception that these apples, being soft and 

 easily bruised, were even more benefited by 

 the protection afiforded by the paper. These 

 apples, under any method of storage, could 

 not be kept for more than one month. Sep- 

 tember I is about their limit of keeping. 

 On this date the wrapped specimens were 

 perfect in appearance and flavor. The un- 

 wrapped specimens were discounted con- 

 siderably by bruised and spotted specimens. 

 Sawdust, again, proved very undesirable as 

 a storing medium. 



THE POINTS PROVED. 



The experiments show conclusively that 

 the early apple is very greatly benefited by 

 some protective covering. Although this 

 is especially the case with the early apple, 

 many late varieties, such as the American 

 Russet, are similarly benefited. Where 

 apples are stored in small quantities for pri- 

 vate use or held for fancy trade, wrapping 

 should be resorted to. A layer of ordi- 

 nary newspaper surrounding an apple pre- 

 vents it from injury by jarring, rubbing, or 

 slight pressure. It lessens the liability to 

 damage from sudden excesses of heat and 

 cold, in cases where the temperature may 

 be influenced from external sources ; it 



