THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



221 



We have a number of bearing apple 

 trees, about fifteen hundred, consisting 

 of N. Spy, Baldwin, R. I. Greening, 

 G. A. Russet, and Seek-no- Further, 

 and I set out about one hundred Fallo- 

 water a year ago last spring, besides 

 other sorts, nearly all of which are 

 fruiting. 



By giving me full particulars con- 

 cerning mode of operation, you will 

 much oblige Yours very truly, 

 D. E Hopkins. 



REPLY. 



BY L, WOOLVERTON. 



A correspondent asks for some in- 

 formation concerning the best mode of 

 handling and marketing apples. 



1st. HaTidling. — There is probably 

 no better way than the old method of 

 placing apples in piles on the grass, or 

 on bunches of straw, in the orchard. 

 Our own practice has been to bring the 

 apples into the packing house and 

 empty them there in bins, the floor of 

 which is first covered with straw. We 

 find it a good mode, but it is not prac- 

 ticable without plenty of house room, 

 and it is rather more expensive. In a 

 rainy season, however, it is very advan- 

 tageous, giving an opportunity for pack- 

 ing on days when the workmen cannot 

 go on with the picking. Apples need 

 to be handled with great care, and as 

 few times as possible. Careless pickers 

 must be dismissed, or taught to handle 

 fruit properly. Thumb marks may 

 prove the beginning of decay. The 

 picking basket may be lined with cloth ; 

 it should be round, and have a swing 

 handle, and also be provided with a 

 wire hook, by which it may hang from 

 the ladder. 



2nd. Packing. — In packing, all 

 wormy and defective fruit must be 

 thrown out and sold as second-class. 

 Fair specimens should be used to face 

 the head end of the barrel, and the 

 quality should correspond throughout. 



The fruit should be closely packed, and 

 the barrel should be filled to the height 

 of about an inch above the chine, or 

 even more if for a foreign market, and 

 the tail end pressed into place by means 

 of an iron lever press. The barrels 

 must be carefully headlined, and the 

 hoops safely nailed in place, or they 

 may come to grief on the road to 

 market. The name of both shipper 

 and buyer, or consignee, should be 

 plainly stamped on the head end of the 

 barrel with a stencil ; also the name of 

 the contents. 



3rd. Marketing. — I fear I can give 

 no rule for this that will suit every 

 case. In many instances, where lots 

 are small, it is best to ship on consign- 

 ment to a good reliable house, in such 

 an apple mart as the city of Montreal. 

 Some seasons, also, good success may 

 be obtained by shipping large lots on 

 consignment to some established Com- 

 mission House in Liverpool or Glasgow. 

 But in most instances it is best to 

 accept a good offer, and sell one's crop 

 for cash, rather than wait for the 

 slower, and not always better, returns 

 from a Commission merchant. But 

 whether one sells outright, or ships his 

 fruit on consignment, it is best to make 

 connection with some well-established 

 Commission House, with whom one can 

 correspond to get quotations of prices 

 current, and through whom one can 

 make sales, without waiting the plea- 

 sure of travelling buyers, many of 

 whom speculate out of the seller for 

 the benefit of their own pockets ; and 

 some of whom are quite irresponsible. 



ONTARIO APPLE. 

 Mr. J. W. Gumming, writing from 

 St. Hilaire, Province of Quebec, says 

 the Ontario apple tree was winter 

 killed, and I cut it down to two feet 

 of the ground, and five new shoots 

 grew this summer. It seems too ten- 

 der for this locality. 



