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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



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CONDUCTED BY JOSEPH FROST. 



FRUIT-GATHERING. 



Next iu importance to the ability to grow any 

 given crop successl'iilly, is a Ivnowleclge of the means 

 and appliances that are best adajDted to preserve it in 

 its best condition for future use and sale. It is not 

 the mark of a prudent farmer to suffer his grain to 

 be damaged for want of storage ; neither is it wise 

 for any one who has fruit to gather and assort for 

 market, to permit ill-judged haste to bruise the ten- 

 der cells, or mar the external appearance and form. 

 Much has been said on the imperative necessity of not 

 allowing apples, or any fruits designed for long keep- 

 ing, to receive even the slightest bruise or indentation. 

 Why this necessity for preserving the delicate cellular 

 tissue intact, will be evident if we consider for a mo- 

 ment the reasons therefor. The juices of all fruits 

 are contained in cells ; and it is by the growth and 

 aggregation of these cells, protected by their exter- 

 nal covering, that fruit attains its ultimate size. When 

 fruits have attained their full growth and development, 

 or become ripe, as we say, the laws of vitality are 

 suspended, except as relates to the preservation of 

 the seed, and the ever-active agencies of chemical 

 decomposition are ready to commence their ^ork, 

 and thus continue the ceaseless round of production 

 and decay. 



So long as the temperature is kept below the ger- 

 minating point, or below the degree at which decom- 

 position commences, and the natural moisture inherent 

 in itself is not permitted to escape, many fruits may 

 be kept in all their freshness for a long time ; but in 

 how many instances are all these conditions a perfect 

 blank! Go into our orchards, and observe carefully 

 the general method of procedure. Instead of feet 

 properly shod — stepping carefully among the branches 

 and delicate twigs — how often does the iron-shod 

 heel bruise or tear off" the bark, and leave ragged 

 wounds to be healed by the abused tree! Instead of 

 picking off the fruit one by one, and placing it gently 

 and with care in the basket, the long jjole to whip 

 the branches is l)rought into requisition; and though 

 it may be sport to the lads to see the apples fly 

 through the air and fall heavily upon the earth, 

 piercetl very likely by the stubble of the wheat, oat 

 or barley crop (taken off that the use of the land be 

 not lost), yet when gathered how few will you find in 

 a fit state for keeping! 



Now, all this Vi'holesale process of bruising and 

 waste may be remedied, by the exercise of a little 

 forethought in providing means of access to the 

 branches of the trees. Ilad we a crop of nice fruit 

 to gather, in anticipation of the friendly fireside chat 

 during the long winter evenings, we should not deem 

 it time lost to spend a few days in providing siep 

 ladders, folding ladders, and canvas sheets with rinsrs 

 Et the corners, by which they could be extended 

 under the trees, if necessary, in order to gather the 

 fruit difficult of access. When collected in our bas- 

 ket, we would not pour them heavily upon the floor 

 of our fruit-room, or into the barrel ; neither would 



we convey them homeward or to market in a spring- 

 less conveyance. When about to place them in win- 

 ter quartersj'we should reject every unsound or bruised 

 one, remembering that the old proverb holds true in 

 this as in every case, " Evil communications corrupt 

 good manners" — which, paraphrased, -would read, 

 " Every unsound or decaying specimen of fruit will 

 invariably depreciate the value of the rest, and dis- 

 pose them to rot." 



In regard to the winter-keeping of fruit, the Hon. 

 M. P. AViLDER, of Boston, in the Horticulturist,siatea 

 that his experiment of keeping fruits was suggested 

 by the difficulty of avoiding the bad effects of mois- 

 ture and warmth in his old fruit-cellars under his 

 dwelling-house ; and the same difficulty exists on the 

 ground floor of buildings. "I therefore resorted," 

 he says, " to the other extreme — a cool and dry cham- 

 ber on the north end of my barn, the location of 

 which being over the carriage-room. I am now quite 

 satisfied that we have at last attained the proper lo- 

 cation for a fruit-room — namely, a cool upper apart- 

 ment, with fined non-conducting walls." 



But we apprehend the great difficutly to be found 

 in the want ef care and attention to these points is 

 this — tvill it pay? To such we do not know that we 

 can give a better reply than by giving the experience 

 of a noted fruit-gi'ower who is satisfied that it does 

 pay. Mr. Pell, of Pelham, N. Y., in some remarks 

 before the American Institute, thus explains his pro- 

 cess ; and from the gi-eat success he Iras hitherto met 

 with, we judge it to be worth an attentive perusal by 

 fruit-growers : 



* * * " To do this reasonably, they should be 

 picked from the tree by hand with great care, so as 

 not to break the skin or bruise the fruit in the slightest 

 degree, as the parts injured immediately decay, 'and 

 ruin all the fruit coming in contact. Apples shaken 

 from the tree become more or less injured, and totally 

 unfit to be kept through the winter, or even shipped 

 to the nearest ports. My Pippin fruit is all picked 

 by hand, by men from ladders, into half-bushel baskets, 

 from them into bushel and a half baskets, in which 

 they are carried in spring wagons, twelve at a time, 

 to store-rooms, covered with straw, where they are 

 carefully piled, three feet thick, to sweat and discharge 

 by fermentation some thirty per cent, of water, when 

 they are ready for barreling for shipment to Europe 

 or elsewhere. If they reach their port of destination 

 before the second process of sweating comes on, they 

 will keep perfectly four months. I have kept them 

 sound two years, and exhibited them at the end of 

 that time at the Institute Fair, Castle Garden. They 

 have been sent to Europe and China from my farm, 

 packed in various ways, viz.: in wheat chaff", buck- 

 wheat chaff", oats, rye, mahogany saw-dust, cork-dust, 

 wrapped separately in paper, and in ice. By the 

 mode I now adopt, I can warrant them to bear ship- 

 ment superior to any other, excejit ice." 



To Core the Canker in Trees. — Cut them off" to 

 the quick, and apply a piece of sound bark from any 

 other tree, and bind it on with a flannel roller. Cut 

 oft" the canker, and a new shoot will grow strong; 

 but in a year or two you will find it cankered. — Mrs. 

 Hale's Receipt Book. 



