HORTICULTURE 203 



of many storage men. In recent years cold storage men have gen- 

 erally come to believe that apples should go into storage as soon as 

 picked. With the Hubbardston, however, it is no doubt best to let 

 the fruit lie on straw on the ground for two or three weeks for the 

 purpose of adding color to the fruit. This can be done, perhaps, 

 with this variety because it is not a good variety for storing anyway 

 and goes soon into consumption. But cold storage men are agreed 

 that, although this practice may put the fruit in better condition 

 for immediate use, it injures its keeping quality. 



Some varieties, as Mclntosh, ripen very unevenly. If all the 

 fruit is picked from a tree of such a variety at one picking, there 

 results a mixed lot of differing degrees of ripeness, and the season 

 of the ripest fruits determines the season of the whole lot. The 

 harvesting of such varieties should be divided between two or more 

 pickings. In parts of the west, it has become an established prac- 

 tice to pick some varieties of apples in the same way that peaches 

 and oranges are picked, going over the trees a number of times 

 and taking each time only those fruits that have reached the re- 

 quired degree of ripeness. As a result the different fruits in any 

 such lot are very uniform in keeping quality and the percentage 

 of No. 1 fruit is greatly increased. The small packages used by 

 Oregon fruit-growers for their apples and the high prices obtained 

 for the fruit make the practice profitable there. 



Some growers have, in the last few years, adopted the practice 

 of picking early apples, especially Oldenburg, in this way, and the 

 practice is gaining. In this case the earliness of the season gives 

 time for several pickings; but when the main crop of fruit comes 

 on it must be harvested all at once in order to get through picking in 

 time. Although the desirability of making two or more pickings 

 is commonly admitted it does not seem to be generally practicable 

 under present conditions and methods of apple orcharding in New 

 York State. The practice is for the grower of early or fancy fruit 

 or of fruit for local markets rather than for the growers of the 

 ordinary commercial varieties of winter apples. Yet there is a 

 feeling, especially among dealers, that this is a coming practice. 



It is a matter of common observation that specimens that are 

 very large for the variety do not keep so well as those of medium 

 size and firmer texture. This is remarked by several cold storage 

 men. Such fruit may be produced on young trees or on mature 

 trees making excessive growth or carrying a light crop. 



Comparative Efficiency of Different Kinds of Storage. The 

 efficiency of the various kinds of storage as applied to different 

 varieties differs greatly. For instance, according to Hart, the season 

 of both Fallawater and Grimes in cellar storage is January ; but the 

 season of Fallawater in chemical cold storage is May, a lengthening 

 of the season by 4 months, while the season of Grimes in chemical 

 cold storage is February, a prolongation of the season of only 1 

 month. Again, the season of Missouri Pippin and York Imperial 

 in cellar storage is given by Newhall as December; but that of 

 Missouri Pippin under ice is April, a prolongation of the season 



