STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 67 



October or first of November. It may be more practicable to 

 do whatever thinning is necessary the middle of September, 

 rather than in June ; in other words, let the fruit hang as thick 

 as it will without breaking the tree, and along in September 

 pick off the outside fruit that is beginning to color and sell it 

 for the export trade, leaving a whole month for the remaining 

 apples to size up and color on the trees. This may be better 

 than to pick off apples in June and drop them on the ground 

 and get nothing for them. 



Harvesting. Some of our growers have found it best to pay 

 for picking by the piece; the usual price is ten cents a barrel. 

 I do not like this plan. The apples are not picked as carefully 

 and it costs more. This year my pickers averaged twenty-five 

 barrels each a day, yet I was only paying them $1.50 a day. 

 You can see why I am not enthusiastic about paying by the 

 piece. It is a good plan, however, to have a check system even 

 when paying by the day. As each picker brings in a barrel of 

 apples, give him a check. At the end of the day he returns the 

 checks to the picking foreman, who records in a book the 

 amount of apples each man has picked. This gives a line on 

 whether a picker is a drone or a worker ; the drones are elimi- 

 nated, and there is a standard set which we expect each picker 

 to reach. 



This year I used rubber stamps entirely for stencilling the 

 barrels. Tin stencils, as you know, usually get twisted and the 

 letters are broken, resulting in a blurred and unattractive sten- 

 cil. I had some rubber stamps made, some with five-eighth inch 

 letters, some smaller. One of those stamps would have on it 

 "Virginia" in rubber type, another would have on it "Apples." 

 Having the inked pad before you, you take these two stamps 

 in your hand, put them on the pad, then on the barrel, and your 

 legend is stamped in one-tenth the time it takes with the old 

 tin stencil. I shall never use a tin stencil again ; the rubber 

 stamp lasts longer, costs no more, and saves time. 



Selling Apples. Some of our growers sell "on the trees." 

 The speculator goes through the orchard and says, "I will give 

 you so much for the apples just as they hang on the trees." 

 Likely as not that is in August, possibly July, long before the 

 apples are ripe. That is speculation ; it is not apple selling. 

 The buyer knows how to estimate a crop of apples on the trees 



