256 



THE CANAniAN H0RTICTTLTtTRI8T. 



not bins, each box holding about one 

 barrel, and pile them in tiers so that 

 one box above rests on two below, and 

 only barrel when ready to market ; but 

 this is an expensive way, and can only 

 be practiced by those with limited 

 crops of apples, and it is not at all 

 practicable for long keeping, because 

 in this way they lose moisture much 

 more rapidly that when headed close 

 in barrels, and become badly shrivelled. 

 " All things considered, there is no 

 way of keeping apples quite so good 

 and practicable as packing in tight 

 barrels and storing in cool cellars ; the 

 barrel forms a room within a room and 

 prevents circulation of air and conse- 

 quent drying and shrinking of the 

 fruit, and also lessens the changes of 

 temperature, and besides more fruit 

 can be packed and stored in a given 

 space. The poorest of all ways is the 

 large open bin, and the objections are : 

 too much fruit in contact ; too much 

 weight upon the lower fruit ; and too 

 much trouble to handle and sort when 

 desirable to market. It was formerly 

 the almost universal custom in western 

 Kew York to sort and barrel the 

 apples as fast as picked from the trees, 

 heading up at once and drawing to 

 market or piling in some cool place till 

 the approach of cold weather, and then 

 putting in cellars. By this method it 

 was impossible to prevent leaves, twigs 

 and other dirt from getting in, and it 

 was difficult to properly sort the fruit, 

 and if well sorted, occasionally an ap- 

 ple, with no visible cause, will entirely 

 and wholly rot soon after picking. 

 Some varieties are more liable to do 

 this than others, but all will to some 

 extent ; this occurs within a week or 

 ten days after picking, and when 

 barrelled these decayed apples are of 

 course in the barrels, and help to decay 

 others. Although packed ever so well 

 and pressed ever so tight, the shrink- 

 ing of the fresh picked fruit soon 



makes them loose, and nothing is so 

 bad in handling apples as this. Alto- 

 gether this was a very untidy method 

 of handling apples, and has been en- 

 tirely abandoned for a better. 



" The very best method depends a 

 good deal upon the quantity to be 

 handled ; if only a few hundred barrels 

 they can be put in open barrels and 

 stored on the barn floor. Place empty 

 barrels on a log-boat or old sled ; take 

 out the upper head and place it in the 

 bottom of the barrel ; on picking the 

 apples put them without sorting direct- 

 ly into these barrels, and when a load 

 is filled draw to the barn and place in 

 tiers on end along one side of the floor ; 

 when one tier is full lay some strips of 

 board on top and on these place 

 another tier of barrels ; then more 

 boards and another tier ; two men can 

 easily pi ice them three tiers high, and 

 an ordinary barn floor will in this way 

 store a good many barrels of apples. 

 Where many hundreds or thousands of 

 barrels are grown, it is a good plan to 

 build houses or sheds in convenient 

 places in the orchards for holding the 

 apples as picked ; these are built on 

 posts or stones about one foot from the 

 ground. The floors, sides, and ends 

 should be made of stri])S about four 

 inches wide and placed one inch apart, 

 and the roof should project well on 

 every side. The apples, as picked, are 

 drawn to these in boxes or barrels and 

 piled carefully on the floors about 

 three feet deep. Where these houses 

 are not provided, the next best way is 

 to pile the apples, as picked, on clean 

 straw under the trees in the deepest 

 shade to be found. 



" After lying in any one of these 

 positions about ten days, they should 

 be carefully sorted and packed in clean 

 barrels, placing at least two layers on 

 the bottom of the barrels, with stems 

 down ; after this fill full, shaking mod- 

 erately two or three times as the filling 



