4 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 



The only way for the beginner to be sure and get the 

 fruit harvested at the right time is to experiment. It 

 is of little value to rely upon the advice of neighbors 

 unless one knows that they have been successful. The 

 person unfamiliar with the harvesting operations can 

 pick a few packages of fruit and send them to market 

 and the returns that he gets will very soon indicate to 

 him whether the fruit arrived in good condition. By 

 keeping in touch with the selling force, be it a com- 

 mission man or a special agent, he can tell to a much 

 better advantage just when to pick the fruit in order 

 to get it in the hands of the consumer in the best prime 

 condition. 



In the Northern states, apples are usually allowed 

 to hang on the trees as late in the fall as climatic con- 

 ditions will warrant. Most of the growth in size and 

 flavor apparently comes in the last two or three weeks 

 of the growing period in the fall, and if the fruit can 

 be allowed to hang on the trees, it will develop much 

 in size and in quality during this time. The earlier 

 varieties in the North and the other varieties in the 

 South are usually picked when the market conditions 

 are best to receive them. In most states, large quanti- 

 ties of apples are put in storage. This is commendable 

 in many respects, and will be considered more in detail 

 in another place. 



Peaches, plums and apricots have to be picked every 

 day or every other day, because the period in which they 

 are at the best is very short. If they are allowed to 

 stay on the tree too long they become soft and do not 

 u stand up " when they reach the market Pears are 

 almost always, picked before they are mature. They 



