380 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



is used only for the gathering of berries that are to be 

 evaporated. The berries are allowed to become fully 

 ripe, so that they fall easily, and the patch is gone over 

 about three times. Much litter falls with the berries, but 

 this is readily removed by running the dried fruit through 

 a fanning mill. There are few growers who use this har- 

 vester exclusively. It is often brought into requisition for 

 the last picking, or in seasons of low prices, and it also has 

 a stimulating effect on a lot of disaffected berry-pickers. 



Necessity of hand-picking. 



It would seem to be unnecessary to say that all fruits 

 intended for a good market should be hand-picked, and 

 yet it is a fact that a great quantity of the apples, and 

 even of the pears and plums, that go into our common 

 markets are shaken from the trees. It is impracticable 

 to grade or assort such fruits, because the proportion of 

 jammed or bruised specimens is so great that the samples 

 of first quality are found to be very few. It is an axiom in 

 fruit-marketing that only the best fruit pays for careful 

 packing, and that the poor fruit is rarely worth the trouble 

 of grading. The better the fruit, therefore, and the more 

 carefully it is picked, the more profitable may be the 

 attention given to sorting and packing. 



CARING FOB THE FRUIT AFTER PICKING 



After fruit is picked, it is very important that it be 

 kept cool and away from the direct sun. This is particu- 

 larly true with the soft and berry-like fruits, as grapes, 

 strawberries, cherries and peaches. The fruits not only 

 ripen rapidly after they are picked if the sun strikes them, 

 but they may also become so warm that they will not with- 



