FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



pounds; two over seven hundred pounds; 

 sixteen over six hundred pounds; four- 

 "teen over five hundred pounds of milk 



bring the 2i inch apple into the 21 inch 

 class and to raise its color from a B to 

 an A Grade. This means pruning in 



T)er cow. The leading herds in average those parts of the tree where fruit is to 



milk production per cow were as follows: 



Lbs. Milk 

 Owner Address No. Cows per Cow 



Pelissier Bros., Hadley 6 1255 



J. G. Cook, Hadley 11 1109 



E. P. West, Hadley 30 1095 



F. L. Antes, Ware 11 1049 

 C. G. Loud, Westhampton 10 911 

 C. E. Clark, Leeds 21 906 



Twelve herds averaged over thirty 

 pounds of butter fat for the month. The 

 leaders in butter fat production per cow 

 were: 



Owner Address No. Cows 



Pelissier Bros., Hadley 

 E. P. West, Hadley 

 J. G. Cook, Hadley 

 T. L. Antes, Ware 

 H. Bridgman, Westh'pton 

 Ellis Harlow, Amherst 



be picked, — not the old fashioned slash- 

 ing type of cut that makes the tree look 

 like a headless cabbage plant, but a con- 

 servative, systematic thinning which al- 

 lows every branch some space and an 

 occasional glimpse of the sun. 



Most of us spray and fertilize our trees 

 fairly well. But not more than ten per- 

 cent, even of the good growers, pay en- 

 ough attention to the pruning of bearing 

 trees. Too often the job is delayed until 

 spring and then postponed until the next 

 I year. The picking season is an ideal 

 per Cow J time to decide where pruning is needed, 

 for then the fruit gives mute testimony 

 of its handicap. 



W. H. Thies, Extension Specialist 

 in Pomology. 



PRUNING FOR SIZE AND COLOR 



Now's the Time to Decide 

 Pruning Program 



To the evidence already available, we 



APPLES AND STORAGE 



AT HARVEST TIME 



Massachusetts Fruit growers in in- 

 creasing numbers are equipping their 

 farms with common storage facilities for 



may add one more positive proof that ,' holding their apples for longer or shorter 



pruning a bearing apple tree will, under 

 some circumstances, improve the size and 

 color of the fruit. Most of us have sus- 

 picioned some such eifect from pruning, 

 "but few have given it a fair trial. From 



periods. It is therefore appropriate to 

 give a word of advice on the handling of 

 this fruit at picking time. 



Wherever possible it is desirable to 

 harvest apples into bushel boxes. The 



a Moorestown, New Jersey, orchard i "old style" box, i. e. 18" x 18" x 8" makes 

 comes the report of a three-year test in \ a fine orchard and storage package, as 

 which the fruit from a row of well- I it may be filled slack-full and pack out 

 pruned trees is compared with that of an on Standard box when marketed. Other 

 adjacent row of unpruned trees. Other- orchard boxes are frequently used; 



all trees received the same atten- 



special ones being not uncommon. If any 

 reader is interested in such a box, the 

 County Agent will be glad to supply blue 

 prints of one that has been successfully 

 used in many cases. 



As common storage depends on outside 



wise, 

 tion. 



In the above orchard, the average crop 

 of all the well pruned trees ran 28 per- 

 cent 3 inches or over, while the crop 

 from the brushy, check trees ran only 

 14.8 percent 3 inches or over. The well I air for cooling it is necessary at harvest 

 pruned trees had an negligible number of time to keep it open at any time that 

 culls, while the brushy trees ran 11.3 outside temperatures are lower than in- 

 percent culls, and the 2 to 21 inch apples | side. All openings are of course covered 

 were reduced from 19.6 percent to 10.6 with wire to keep out rats and mice or 

 percent by thorough pruning. Also, on other rodents. A storage cellar properly 

 the well pruned trees, 56.1 percent of the \ equipped as to doors and ventilators will 

 crop had more than half the surface experience a complete change of air in a 



short time if all flues, etc. are opened. 

 When harvesting the fruit it is best 

 to stack the filled boxes out of doors over- 

 night, placing into storage early in the 

 morning. If the orchard, is close to the 

 storage this stacking or "precooling" may 

 be done under the trees. If the orchard 

 is a distance from the storage, they may 

 be hauled to the storage and stacked out- 



is used the stacks may be as high as is 

 possible with safety from toppling over. 

 The outside stacking will cool out the 

 fruit very greatly and will thus cause 

 it to raise the temperature in the storage 

 very much less when placed in it. 



During the day time or in fact at any 

 time when outside temperature is higher 

 than inside the storage should be kept 

 closed. This is another argument for 

 .stacking fruit outside during the harvest 

 hours and overnight, as the opening-up 

 and bringing in of hot fruit during the 

 day will overcome any cooling that may 

 have been accomplished during the pre- 

 vious night. 



After hai-vest and during the succeed- 

 ing winter storage season two factors 

 must be always in mind. The first is 

 to keep an adequate humidity. There 

 appears to be no moisture content to the 

 atmosphere that is too high for good 

 keeping of apples. This statement of 

 course refers to fruit that goes into stor- 

 age clean; with no fungus or other 

 growth upon it. 



The other factor is that of ventilation. 

 Change the air occasionally, perhaps once 

 in two weeks. This should be done when 

 the outside temperature is at 32° or 

 thereabouts. Open all flues and doors 

 for a couple of hours for a stoi-age of 

 5,000 bushel capacity and longer if a 

 larger storage is under use. 



Do not store any but good, clean, well 

 grown and carefully handled fruit. 



No storage cellar is a bit better than 

 the way it is managed ; a good storage 

 cellar is of little use if not managed well. 

 A poor storage well handled is better 

 than a good one poorly handled. 



William R. Cole, Specialist in 

 Food Preservation. 



colored with red, compared with 40.6 per- 

 cent on the brushy trees. 



To put the matter a little more strik- 

 ingly, thorough pruning over the three- 

 year period gave a total increase of 10 

 bushels per tree of 3-inch apples and a 

 decrease of 8 bushels per tree of 2 to 2i 

 inch apples without reducing the total 

 yield of marketable fruit. 



Everyone admits that we have an over- i side. In case of heavy rain the stacks 



supply of small, poorly colored apples, 

 particularly of Baldwins, and that the 

 poorest fruit comes from the thickest, 

 most shaded portions of the tree. And 

 while the overgro\vn Baldwin apple is to 

 be avoided, pruning offers a chance to 



.should be covered with a tarpaulin but 

 this is not necessary under ordinary con- 

 ditions. Care should be exercised to keep 

 the stacks small. Four boxes square and 

 then an alleyway at least one box wide 

 will give good ventilation. If this plan 



MATURE APPLES BEST KEEPERS 



IN COMMON OR COLD STORAGE 



From the results of numerous investi- 

 gations it seems fairly certain that a 

 great many apples grown in the eastern 

 section of the United States are picked 

 too early to obtain best results in either 

 common or cold storage, says the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. In 

 general, apples for cold storage should 

 not be picked before they show a decided 

 yellow cast in the ground color or until 

 they are beginning to loosen on the tree. 

 An equally firm fruit of better color and 

 flavor and with less tendency to scald 

 will be obtained from later picking than 

 from that now generally practiced. In 

 common storage late picking will give 

 not only better-flavored fruit but also 

 fruit in a firmer condition throughout the 

 storage period. 



Apples .soften much faster in common 

 storage or if packed and held in the 

 orchard than while remaining on the 

 trees. For best results in common stor- 



Continued on page 8, column 2 



