PICKING. Ill 



the fruit will bruise in cartage ; the bruises will blacken ; 

 some will rot, and the price will be no better than for the 

 former. The greatest care is, then, necessary in deciding 

 the exact time it should be picked. The expert will have 

 little difficulty, as a glance of the eye, in most cases, will 

 enable him to tell ; but the novice will often be puzzled, 

 and will often make mistakes. Besides the size and color, 

 the best test of maturity is the feel of the peach. In 

 order to decide in a doubtful case, the picker should take 

 the peach between his thumb and first and second fingers, 

 and press it ; if it yields to the pressure, it is mature and 

 may be picked. If it does not, it is yet too green ; while if 

 the peach is indented by the pressure it is already ripe, 

 and cannot be safely shipped to a remote distance. This is 

 the simplest and most reliable test we know. Indeed we 

 regard it as infallible; and fruit picked just when it be- 

 gins to yield to the pressure may be shipped five or six 

 hundred miles by express without danger. In most varie- 

 ties, we may add, there is a peculiar transparency of the 

 skin at maturity that enables the expert to say without 

 hesitation that the fruit should be picked and he will 

 very seldom need anything more to direct him. 



On the morning that the picking commences, the hands 

 assemble at a designated place in the orchard ; and are form- 

 ed into gangs of five, ten, or more ; and have certain rows 

 allotted them. In forming gangs, care is taken that each 

 has its proper proportion of skill, experience, and strength ; 

 for it would be very injudicious to put all the good hands 

 in one, and all the poor ones in another. Each gang is 

 placed in charge of a leader, and each hand is furnished 

 with one basket or more, and the picking begins. The 

 light pickers mount the trees, the tall ones stand around the 

 tops of the bending limbs, while the ladders are used to 

 reach the fruit that cannot be gathered without them. 

 It is a busy time, and nimble fingers make many ups and 

 downs in securing the bright blushing fruit Only such as 



