58 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Dec. 



1. I Ijclicvc that by all means the most important single 

 factor is the careful handling of the apples from the time 

 they leave the tree until they arc sent to the consumer. This 

 would include, especially, care in picking, in packing and 

 in handling the packages. In picking, the apples ought never 

 to be tossed into the basket, and if they are poured into the 

 box or barrel (which I believe ought not to be done with 

 really choice fruit) the greatest care should be exercised to 

 prevent bruising. In Ilood River, Ore., I was told that they 

 use galvanized pails for picking because the smooth, rigid 

 surface does not bruise the apples, and because the picker 

 who tosses the fruit into the pail can be located easily by the 

 noise he makes. I believe that we might adopt the pail here 

 to advantage. We certainly ought to banish the bag as a 

 picking receptacle. In packing, the apples ought never to 

 be handled roughly. The speaker recently saw one of our 

 good orchardists packing apples in barrels. lie had a pack- 

 ing table with a small opening at one end. A barrel was 

 placed under this opening and the apples were allowed to 

 drop from the table into the barrel. How many of them 

 do you suppose escaped serious bruising ? In one of our 

 best orchard sections this autumn a large part of the fruit 

 was bought by a dealer who used large slatted crates which 

 held a barrel. The apples were hauled to the car in open 

 barrels, the crates placed in position, and the apples poured 

 into them like so many potatoes and the slatted cover nailed 

 on. The speaker took the pains to examine one of these crates. 

 On pressing one of the slats away from the fruit every apple 

 which touched the corner of the slat was found to have a 

 long bruise with the skin broken. These apples were going 

 into storage and were eventually destined for the ISTew York 

 market. How well do you imagine they kept ? And how 

 much did they increase the demand for apples ? 



These are merely some isolated cases that have recently 

 come to the speaker's notice. Hundreds more might be easily 

 cited. This matter of careful handling has been dwelt upon 

 because it is the all-important factor. 



Some recent investigations by the United States Depart- 



