GATHERING FRUITS, ETC. 405 



by hand from the baskets in which they are gathered on 

 the tree, into larger ones in which they can be carried into 

 a dry, cool room, where they are laid in heaps, which may 

 be three or four deep, where they may remain for a couple 

 of weeks, during which time they will have pai'ted witli 

 considerable moisture and be quite dry. They will then 

 be fit for packing. 



Clean, new barrels should be procured, and the fruits 

 should be carefully assorted. For sliipj^ing to distant or 

 foreign markets, the best only should be selected ; all 

 bruised, wormy, knotty specimens being laid aside for 

 home consumption. They are then placed in the barrels, 

 by hand, arranged regularly in layers, so that no spaces 

 will exist, by Avhich the fruits may shift, roll, or knock 

 against one another. The barrels are then tightly lieaded 

 up, so that the head presses firmly on the fruits ; some 

 people recommend placing a layer of clean moss or soft 

 paper, both on the bottom and top of the barrel ; but this 

 is not necessary where the packing and heading are per- 

 formed carefully. After i)acking, the barrels must be 

 sent to market in such a manner as never to be jolted or 

 rolled,' any more than they would be on men's shoulders, 

 or an easy spring wagon or sled, or by a water convey- 

 ance. 



On shipboard, the barrels should be placed in the coolest 

 and dryest place. It is perfectly idle to gather, pack, or 

 ship fruits in any other way than this to foreign markets. 

 American apples are frequently sold in Liverpool at auction 

 for half what they would have sold for in New- York, on 

 account of their bad condition. I saw this in 1849, wdien 

 Newtown pippins were selling at twelve and a half cents 

 apiece in the fruit-shops. 



Winter fruits for home cons^nnption should be care- 

 fully assorted, keeping the best, the poorest, the sound, 

 the bruised, and the earlier and later ripening varieties 

 all separate ; when sound and bruised, early and late, are 



