Picking and ripening Fruit. 



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detection ; but generally the result is to greatly reduce the price of the 

 whole, and render them unsalable. Such shipments seldom pay ; and the 

 sooner the fruit-grower comes to learn the folly of such a course, the better. 

 This does not apply to apples alone, but may be said in regard to other 

 fruits. It is more important to remember it in connection with the apple, 

 because it is the most important fruit of the country, and is regarded, of 

 all others, the most indispensable for general purposes. We pass from 

 apples to pears, — a fruit that is yearly attracting more and more attention. 

 The most skilful fruit-growers have often been puzzled and perplexed in 

 their attempts to bring to the greatest perfection the Easter Beurre and 

 other late-keeping varieties. We hear some one strongly condemning this 

 or that variety ; when, in fact, the fault is their own : they do not know when 

 to pick it, or how to ripen it. All pears, we believe, are better for being 

 ripened off the tree ; and, in this respect, are the very opposite of the peach. 

 And not only are they much better for being ripened in the house, but 

 better for being properly treated even there. The very earliest pears — 

 which are never so good as the later ones — are, nevertheless, very much 

 improved by being picked a few days before they are eatable, and laid 

 away in a fruit-room. ^V■e well remember thac we used to think, when a 

 boy, there was no place like a hole in the hay-mow to ripen pears 

 and apples. It will do the business pretty quickly too, though an un- 

 pleasant flavor is imparted to them. The early pears, ripening as they 

 do in the summer or early fall while the weather is quite mild, need to 

 be kept in a cool and dry place, so that the ripening process may be re- 

 tarded as much as possible, with a part, at least, of the crop. As the 

 days and nights become cooler during the very last of September and Oc- 

 tober, there is less danger of loss from the decay of fruit. The Bartlett, 

 the most popular pear of the country, is an entirely different thing when 

 picked and ripened artificially. There are few varieties that can be so 

 easily managed as this. As it is a very great bearer, it often becomes neces- 

 sar}', and is, in fact, very important for the good of the tree, to pluck off a 

 part of the fruit when two-thirds grown. Even such specimens, if laid away 

 in a tolerably warm place, will become quite palatable, and may readily 

 be sold in market. This pear becomes almost worthless if allowed to 

 fully mature and drop from the tree. The Swan's Orange, another well- 



