PACKING SHEDS 279 



maturity. Several puUings are also necessary to harvest a crop 

 of early radishes, beets or carrots in the best stage for market 

 or table use. Plantations of early cabbage, cauhflower, and head 

 lettuce must likewise be cut over a number of times in order to 

 harvest these crops in ideal condition, since not all the plants will 

 develop to the same stage at the same time. The important point 

 is that the gardener must know when a given product has reached 

 its optimum condition, and how long it will remain in that condi- 

 tion, in order that the harvesting may be done at the proper time. 

 It is true that market conditions sometimes warrant a departure 

 from the normal time of harvesting a given product; as, for exam- 

 ple, when prices are high early in the season, it may pay to sacrifice 

 somewhat in yield, and harvest rhubarb, leaf lettuce, spinach, and 

 even early cabbage before full development has been attained. 

 Under such circumstances, the judgment of the gardener must 

 determine the time at which the harvesting will be done. In the 

 home garden, it is often customary to sacrifice in yield, in order 

 to secure products for the table a few days ahead of their normal 

 season and also to lengthen the season during which a given pro- 

 duct may be used. 



Care of Vegetables between Harvesting and Marketing. — 

 After vegetables are severed from the plant or removed from the 

 soil, it is essential in the case of quickly perishable products that 

 they be kept as cool and moist as circumstances permit. This 

 means that they must not be exposed to direct sunshine or 

 drying winds any longer than is absolutely necessary between the 

 time they are gathered and the time they reach the consumer's 

 table; and, other things being equal, the shorter this time the 

 more desirable the quality of the product. Since most vegetables 

 contain a high percentage of water, and their quality bears a close 

 relation to their succulence, evaporation of water from their 

 tissues is likely to greatly impair their quality. Some vegetables 

 also owe their characteristic flavors to the presence of essential 

 oils, which rapidly volatilize after the vegetables are harvested. 

 Such vegetables must be handled very promptly from garden to 

 consumer's table if the highest quality is to be reahzed. 



PACKING SHEDS 



The keeping of vegetables in a fresh and unwilted condition 

 between harvesting and marketing is facilitated by the use of a 

 packing house or shed to which the products are taken as soon as 



