FRUITS. 519 



indicate that all varieties of fall and winter fruit should be picked 

 about two weeks earlier than we ordinarily pick them. The 

 apples exhibited at a fair held previous to the middle of Sep- 

 tember, three years ago, were placed in my cellar after the fair, 

 and were compared, at different times during the winter and 

 spring, with those picked at the regular picking season in Octo- 

 ber. The early picked fruit kept better and was of a more 

 delicate color. Perhaps as good a way as any to pick fruit is to 

 use a common grain-bag with the corners tied together and 

 passed over the shoulder and under the opposite arm. Strong, 

 light ladders are needed, long enough to reach high limbs. 



Grading. In seasons of comparative failure, we grade closer 

 than commonly, but ordinarily we should not make more than 

 two grades. The man who packs honestly and grades well will 

 sometimes profit thereby, though not always ; certainly not 

 always when his name is unknown on the market. In market- 

 able apples there should be three grades, good, better, best. 

 Not many shippers can pack the " best," but large growers 

 would find it profitable to do so. Below the standard, the fruit 

 may be said to grade bad, worse, worst, and worthless. These 

 sometimes get on the market, but should go to the evaporators 

 and cider-mills. 



Marketing. The conditions of growers vary, and so no 

 invariable rule for marketing can be given. Where men grow 

 a variety of fruits, and so are aquainted with the market through 

 the season, they can often do best by shipping their apples on 

 their own account. As a rule, however, the farmer can do 

 better by selling to shippers, either in the orchard or at the 

 shipping-point. 



SMALL FRUITS. 



Cherries. Cherries are budded or grafted upon stocks raised 

 from cherry stones of any sort. If you want the tree tall and 

 large, the stock should come from the small black cherry tree, 

 that grows wild in the woods. If you want it dwarf, sow the 

 stones of a Morrello or a May-duke. 



Currants. There are red, white, and black all well known. 

 Some persons like one best, and some another. The propaga- 

 tion of all sorts is the same. The currant tree is propagated 



