192 THE CANADIAN HQRTlCULTUfjST. 



(3) Please to give us some instruction as to the best method of picking apples and 

 storing them. " 



Apples should be very vjarefully hand picked. A round basket 

 with a swing handle is the best receptacle for the use of the picker. 

 A wire hook is needed, fastened to the handle, so that the basket may 

 be fastened on a round of the ladder or on any convenient branch \ 

 thus both hands of the picker are free for work. 



A convenient way of storing apples until packing time, is to take 

 the barrels in whch they are to be picked out into the orchard as fast 

 as needed, knock out the heads, placing them carefully in the bottom 

 of the barrels, and each evening draw as many as are filled under cover 

 with a stone boat. They will thus occupy very little room, and can 

 easily be tipped out on a bed of straw as fast as they are required for 

 culling over and packing. This is far more satisfactory than barreling 

 from heaps in the orchard. 



(4) " What kind of a building ought to be constructed for keeping say one thousand 

 bushels of apples through the winter, on the shore of the Georgian Bay?" 



No doubt the best shape in which apples can be JDut for keeping 

 through the winter is carefully packed in close barrels, for they will 

 then be less subject to the changes of temperature and humidity, 

 besides occupying the least amount of room. 



No better storehouse is needed than a good cellar for storing one 

 thousand bushels or about four hundred barrels. The temperature 

 should be kept a little above the freezing point, which result can 

 easily be obtained by putting a little fire inside in the most' severe 

 weather, and by opening the windows on warm days. Various kinds 

 of fruit houses have been planned and constructed, but as these are 

 too expensive for any ordinary purpose, it seems unnecessary to 

 describe them here. 



(5) "Is there any better market apple (winter) than the Baldwin?" 



We do not know of a better, all things considered. This variety is 

 an early and constant bearer ; the fruit is very evenly distributed over 

 the tree, and is therefore quite uniform in size, which is large enough, 

 and the red color is an attraction enhancing its value in the eyes of 

 purchasers. The quality of the fruit is good, and it can be used botlj 

 ,a,s a cooking and a dessert fruit. 



