514 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



The warehouse cannot be expected to 

 obUterate these inherent differences in the 

 fruit. The grower and the handler should, 

 on the other hand, endeavor to acquaint him- 

 self with the influence of cultural conditions 

 on the behavior of the different varieties and 

 their disposition from the warehouse should 

 be governed accordingly. 



We used to think (and this opinion is 

 still commonly held by apple growers and 

 dealers alike), that fruit should be picked 

 somewhat green to insure the best keeping 

 quality. Investigations 'have shown this 

 opinion to be erroneous. It has been our 

 experience that the best keeping apples or 

 peaches are those that have attained the 

 highest color and fullest size, but which are 

 still hard and firm when picked. The pear 

 has kept best when it attains full size and is 

 picked before yellowisih tints have appeared. 



In our fruit storage investigations we 

 have observed that after green fruit is 

 picked it ripens more quickly than more 

 mature fruit of the same variety, and the 

 chemical changes have been shown to pro- 

 gress more rapidly. Green picked fruit, 

 therefore, reaches the end of its life in the 

 warehouse as quickly, or even more so than 

 the latter. Poorly colored fruit brings the 

 lowest price ; it does not attract the cus- 

 tomer; it never acquires that exquisite bou- 

 quet, or aroma, or that fine quaHty that are 

 characteristic of a highly colored, well ma- 

 tured specimen. 



CAUS13S SCALD. 



The premature picking of the apple makes 

 it especially susceptible to scald. Apple 

 scald is the most serious warehouse trouble 

 in certain varieties like Rhode Island Green- 

 ing, Grimes' Golden, York Imperial nd 

 Wagener. It appears to be the result of a 

 ferment or enzyme working beneath the 

 skin. It attacks the apple late in the stor- 

 age season on the immature or light colored 

 side, and a crop picked prematurely is par- 

 ticularly susceptible to it on account of Its 



green condition. Highly colored apples 

 are less seriously affected, and a crop picked 

 when the fruit has attained full size and 

 deep color may escape the difficulty until 

 very late in the season, provided the fruit is 

 stored quickly after picking, in a low tem- 

 perature. Were the average grower to al- 

 low his crop of apples to hang on the trees 

 longer than is customary it would, therefore, 

 result in an improvement in the keeping 

 qualities of the fruit, better flavor and 

 quality, greater commercial value and com- 

 parative freedom from storage scald. 



If I may be pardoned for digressing from 

 the discussion of the storage* problem and 

 entering the field of orchard management, 

 I would suggest that you consider the ad- 

 visability of picking over the trees of varie- 

 ties of fine quality two or three times, tak- 

 ing the fruit in each pickmg that has at- 

 tained the highest color. I know of no sys- 

 tem of apple culture or of harvesting by 

 which the entire crop of a tree can be picked 

 with a uniform degree of maturity at one 

 time. The apple, like the peach tree, bears 

 fruit that varies several days, or even weeks, 

 in degree of maturity. The fruit on the 

 upper and outside branches ripens first, and 

 the interior shaded fruit later, but, by pick- 

 ing such varieties as the Northern Spy, 

 Wagener, Esopus Spitzenburg and other 

 varieties of fine quality two or three times, 

 at intervals of ten days to three weeks, the 

 general average in size and color of the fruit 

 of the entire tree may be improved consider- 

 ably. I would suggest, also, that much of 

 the poor color in apples, especially in old 

 trees under high culture, is the result of the 

 increased leaf surface induced by this treat- 

 ment. It is probable that this fault may be 

 corrected to a large extent by judicious 

 pruning to let the light and air in to the in- 

 terior branches. 



The opinion used to be quite general 

 among apple men that it was necessary for 

 fruit to " sweat " after picking to give it 



