144 THE HANDBOOK FOE PEACTICAL FAKMERS 



heavy crop, if thinned, will go into* the fruit spur for the fol- 

 lowing year. Eliminate *'off" years. 



Harvesting and storage. — Handle apples like eggs. Line 

 baskets with burlap to prevent bruising. Do not pull out or 

 break off the stem or the fruit bud. Pick fruit before it is dead 

 ripe. Place clean straw on shelves before storing apples. Do 

 not harvest while damp or pile in heaps. The fruit cellar should 

 be clean, well ventilated, and the temperature thirty to thirty- 

 three degrees Fahrenheit. 



Winter 'protection. — Place small mesh wire screens about the 

 trunks of young trees. Protection from mice, woodchucks and 

 other animals is necessary. Make pro- 

 tector firm and stationary by the use of 

 two to three stakes. Tar paper and thin 

 Avood may be used, but remove early in 

 the spring to prevent sun-scald. It is not 

 necessary to remove Avire protectors each 

 year. 



Renovating the neglected orchard. — 

 Many orchards throughout the country are 

 unprofitable because they have been neg- 

 lected. The trees have not been sprayed, 

 or pruned or cultivated for years and have 

 fallen into decay. Both insects and dis- 

 ease infest such orchards and leave their 

 destructive marks. 



Many of these trees may be reclaimed if 

 properly treated and made to yield a re- 

 munerative crop. 



In order to determine whether or not the 

 orchard is worth reclaiming one must de- 

 cide the following points : 

 situated in low land (pocket) so that the 

 much of the bloom? If so the trees will 

 time and money necessary to rejuvenate 



Fig. 58. — A five-branched 

 tree at the end of the 

 first season's growth. 

 —U. 8. Dept. of Ag- 

 riculture. 



1. Is the orchard 

 early frost destroys 

 never be worth the 

 them. 



2. Is the orchard exposed to the drying winds of winter and 

 the fall winds which Avhip off the fruit? In this case a Avind 

 break of poplar trees may be planted and the difficulty partly 

 overcome. 



3. Has the site good air and sufficient drainage? If on a 

 hillside or slightly rolling land the air Avill circulate freely. The 

 cold air Avill roll doAvn hill and the summer breezes prevent, to 



