202 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM 



A rather more open house is used in the coast region of southern 

 California, by Mr. T. W. Ward, of Carpinteria : 



It is a slat house made of strips 1 x 2y 2 inches, put on one inch apart. The 

 roof is similarly constructed. There are two passages, on either side of which 

 are two shelves, one above the other, i. e., eight in all. The shelves are made of 

 slats placed one-half inch apart, with sides a foot high. The apples are spread 

 on these shelves a foot or more deep. The floor is made of slats, and there are 

 bins on this also. The first must receive a thorough sprinkling weekly, unless 

 sufficient rain falls. The slats are close enough to prevent birds doing damage, 

 and the whole building is raised six inches from the ground. 



In the monutain regions arrangements must be made for frost 

 exclusion a consideration which does not apply to the valley and 

 coast. 



PICKING AND PACKING APPLES ON A LARGE SCALE 



Mr. C. H. Rodgers, whose pruning prescription has just been cited, 

 gives the best methods of handling apples for market as follows : 



In the matter of picking, experience has evolved a number of rules which 

 should be strictly adhered to : 



(1) Do not pull the apple off the tree. By so doing, the stem may be 

 detached from the apple, thus making a second grade of what otherwise would 

 be choice. 



The proper method of plucking the apple is to grasp it with the full hand, not 

 with the fingers only, and by a gentle twist and lateral movement detach it with 

 the stem attached. Especially must finger pressure be avoided in the picking, as 

 bruises thereby produced injure the value. 



(2) The apple must never be dropped into a receptacle or from box to box, 

 but should be transferred as carefully as so many eggs. 



(3) Under all circumstances use vehicles having springs in moving the fruit. 

 Once within the packing-house the more perishable varieties should be handled 



immediately and forwarded to market, while the long-keeping varieties, especially 

 those intended for export, should be held at least a month before sorting and 

 packing. This latter precaution enables the packer to discover and eliminate all 

 diseased and defective fruit a thing that would be impossible if the fruit were 

 packed at an early date after picking. 



Three grades or qualities are recognized in the "trade" first, second and third. 

 First grade includes only perfect fruit. Second grade includes the fruit having 

 a trivial surface blemish or stem absent. The third or cull class includes all 

 wormy, badly bruised or skin-broken apples. 



Though grading for size varies somewhat in different localities, in the Wat- 

 sonville district, the leading apple producing center of the West, there are but 

 three sizes recognized. These are 3*/>, 4, and 4^ tier. The unit of size is the 

 4-tier, which comprises all apples running from 2$4, to 3^4 inches in diameter, 

 and derives the name from the fact that when packed in the box there are four 

 rows of four apples each, both vertically and horizontally across the end of the 

 box. Apples in excess of 3^4 inches are classed as 3^2-tier size. The third size, 

 or 4^4-tier, includes those apples ranging between 2^4 and 2^ inches in diame- 

 ter. Both the 3^2-tire and 4H-tier are packed in the manner known as "diamond" 

 pack or "pear" pack. Apples smaller than 4^-tier are thrown into the cull pile. 

 The sorter ascertains the size by passing the apples through circular holes in a 

 board. 



In this state the standard box is made of pine. Its measurements are 9^4 by 

 11 by 22 inches, and it holds about 50 pounds of fruit. A modified box of extra 

 thick material, reinforced by iron straps, is frequently used for export trade. 

 Redwood boxes are used only for cheap grades of apples packed for the local 

 market. 



After being sorted, the apples are passed to the packer, who. before placing 

 them in the box, wraps each apple in a piece of paper prepared for the purpose. 



