HORTICULTURE 131 



well colored, although the flavor is improved by allowing them to 

 remain longer on the plants. Gooseberries are generally marketed 

 green. Currants are allowed to color, but are not allowed to ripen, 

 and for jelly making are generally preferred while a few berries still 

 show some green. Cherries are usually picked as soon as well colored, 

 depending somewhat on the variety. Plums may be picked when 

 they are well colored; the Japanese kinds, however, color well after 

 picking. Prunes are usually allowed to ripen on the trees, and are 

 shaken off if to be used for drying. If to be shipped for use when 

 fresh they are picked as soon as well colored. Pears are commonly 

 picked as soon as full grown, and are preferably ripened in the shade. 

 It is necessary for the distant market that pears be shipped green 

 and allowed to ripen in transit. At Fresno, Cal., the season for 

 Bartlett pears lasts two months, the first shipments beginning as soon 

 as the fruit is big enough to sell. Peaches for near-by markets are 

 picked as soon as they begin to show a slight softness and before they 

 become mellow. For the distant market they are picked when well 

 colored, but still hard. Summer cooking apples are generally picked 

 as soon as large enough to use. All summer apples that are to be 

 shipped must be picked green, as they are quite perishable when ripe. 

 Late varieties are picked as soon as well colored and before severe 

 frost. Apples should always be picked if they show by the windfalls 

 that they are ripening. Winter apples generally keep best if picked 

 a little before they are fully colored and are still firm and hard. 



The stems should be left on strawberries, plums, apples, pears, 

 currants, and cherries. If the stems are pulled out of the fruits the 

 injury causes rotting. Fruit should seldom be shipped in the same 

 packages as that in which it is picked, but should be sorted into other 

 suitable packages in a cool storehouse. Other items to consider in 

 picking fruit are : Baskets .and bags for picking ; trays ; boxes ; lad- 

 ders ; implement pickers for the apples ; methods of keeping account 

 of pickers and packers ; grades of fruit ; facing ; wrapping ; pressing ; 

 presses for apples in barrels ; presses for pears and apples in boxes ; 

 importance of marks on fruit packages ; importance of keeping fruit 

 up to grade; methods of shipping and selling; local peddling; com- 

 mission dealers and associations. (U. S. E. S. B. 178.) 



Mechanical Injuries. It is generally recognized by all growers 

 that fruit must be handled v ith great care if it is to be kept sound. 

 The work of the Bureau of Plant Industry has shown that the 

 more common kinds of molds which cause decay in transit and stor- 

 age have not the power to penetrate the unbroken, normal skin of 

 the fruit. It has been shown that the molds generally gain entrance 

 through mechanical bruises or abrasions of the skin made in handling 

 of the fruit in preparing it for market. Some common forms of such 

 injuries are bruises and scratches made in the picking of the fruit, 

 in squeezing it and dropping it roughly into picking boxes, bags, 

 baskets, or pails, or in pouring it from the field bag or pail into boxes. 

 Hauling on springless wagons (sleds are sometimes used) may seri- 

 ously bruise the fruit. Dirt, gravel, dried branches, or twigs in the 

 bottom of the field boxes are also a frequent source of injury. In- 



