306 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



removing such as are fit to come off. On an average, it 

 will require about ten days interval between the first and 

 last picking ; of course all pears must be hand-picked and 

 handled like eggs, and gently placed in baskets, and 

 quietly removed to the culling house, where they are to 

 go through this process at once. Good fruit that is 

 thoroughly culled and well packed, will invariably pay 

 a handsome profit. 



Pick pears on cool, dry days, if possible, and, with 

 the average pear, picking a little early improves the 

 keeping quality, aud holding it a little later, will help 

 the aroma and flavor. 



CULLING THE FRUIT. 



Pears must be culled by hand, and very carefully. 

 Grade them by the Fruit Exchange Standards, if they 

 have any. Heretofore, my divisions have been into 

 extras, primes, culls and windfalls. Sometimes I may ship 

 a few double extras in small crates with a handle, each 

 pear wrapped in tissue paper. This is a wrinkle in pear 

 shipping that often pays the grower, and gladdens the 

 hearts of the buyers too. Cull the windfalls, ship the 

 best at once, in crates, and sell the culls to the evapora- 

 tors, or evaporate them yourself. Having culled the 

 fruit, commence now by shipping all that is fit to go, 

 having put it in its proper package. As the culls are 

 ready, sell them to an evaporator, or evaporate them 



