-4- 



Investlgation, ARS, USDA, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 

 stated at the Conference on Factors Affecting Fruit Condition held in February 1961 

 at Rutgers - The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, "One simple practice 

 which I feel everyone who stores fruit should follow is to label each box or lot 

 with the date of harvest. The fruit should be put in storage so fruit at proper 

 maturity could be t ikci out last, and overripe fruit and fruit picked at an early 

 stage of maturity taken out first. Few growers realize the importance of maturity 

 to storage life and fruit condition and thus fail to take the little time 

 necessary to keep such records." 



---William J. Lord 

 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



THE MORSES' "BIG APPLE" 



Any fruit grower who knows a peach of an operation will drool over this 

 Norfolk County family enterprise which is rapidly growing into the largest fruit 

 farm in the area. The Big Apple fruit farm located on Arnold Street in Wrentham, 

 Massachusetts has been built into a thriving family-run retail business and is 

 under the supervision of son, Peter, a Stockbridge School graduate. Apples, 

 peaches, pears, apricots, strawberries and blueberries are produced for sale at 

 the stand. 



Although Arnold Street is a side road, the use of signs draws a fine retail 

 business to the farm stand and cider mill which are in a converted barn. A 1007. 

 retail business has been built up and cider has baccme one of their major items. 



At first, the Morses were buying cider from other mills but transportation 

 costs were prohibitive. Although cider was a convenience item for customers, 

 the demand was so great that the Morses felt that the loss should be turned into 

 profits by installing their own mill. 



Preparations for the new mill began in 1959 by investigating all types of 

 cider mills. In 1960 they toured through New York state searching for ideas for 

 a press. After a long search, it was decided to get what they considered the 

 best press on the market. Their conclusion was the Willmes Press. 



The Willmes Press is basically an inflatable rubber bag, which squeezes the 

 juice from the fruit. This German-made press is filled with pomace in the 

 horizontal cylinder, which consists of a slotted screen periphery enclosed in an 

 open housing of cylinder ribs. The press is closed, the bag inflated and the 

 pomace squeezed outward against the slotted screen. 



The operation cost $15,000 to install and took three years to construct and 

 work the "bugs" out to where it is now a one-man, semi-automatic operation. 



All apples are cooled and washed before grinding and then rice hulls are 

 mixed with the apples during the grinding process to prevent packing in the press 

 and permit easier juice flow. Pomace is exchanged with dairymen for manure. 



