242 



PICKING AND HANDLING FRUIT 



their judi,'ment refreshed rather often. Cherries ought always 

 to be picked into baskets or some other rigid reeeptack^ and this 

 should be rather small, as too large a body of fruit is likely to 

 lead to injury. 



Plums are generally picked before they are ripe; for distant 

 markets, long before. Yet like all stone fruits, they will respond 

 in improved quality if they can be allowed to stay on the trees 

 till fully ripe. The writer has had some experience with Bur- 

 bank and Red June plums which was interesting to him and may 

 be helpful to others. Both of these are Japanese varieties, a 



Fig. 118. — A load of apples on the way to market. This is a good type of wagon for hauling 

 barrels. It is low, making it easy to load, and it will carry twenty-five barrels easily. 



class usually singled out by authorities to recommend picking 

 green. The trees under discussion were thinned carefully and 

 the fruit was then allowed to hang until it was fully ripe. We 

 started picking once or twice and quit because there was not 

 enough fruit that was sufficiently ripe. We made repeated 

 pickings, taking only the really ripe plums, and, though these 

 two varieties are not usually rated as of high quality, these 

 particular specimens were certainly delicious. They were put 

 up in strawberry quart baskets and sold at 9 to 10 cents whole- 

 ale. But it was the quality that accomplished the results, and 

 it was the ripeness that gave the quality. Plums ought always 



