74 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



should not be either too ripe or too green. It is easy to 

 err on either side. 



Peaches vary considerably with the different varieties 

 as to the stage of maturity they must reach before picking. 

 Firm varieties like Elberta can be allowed to reach a riper 

 condition before picking than with the soft fleshed kinds 

 like Carman. In cool dry weather the fruit can become 

 riper than when it is hot and muggy. In wet weather 

 tnere is always much loss from the fruit rotting. 



A half-bushel wooden basket is the best thing to use 

 for picking peaches. The fruit should be picked from the 

 trees carefully, and just at the time when it has reached 

 its full size and developed a good blush on the sunny side. 

 When ready to pick the fruit must be solid, with no indi- 

 cation of a soft spot, and must be handled carefully so as 

 to not bruise it by dropping it into the basket or in hauling 

 it to the packing shed. If a soft spot can be felt when the 

 fruit is held in the hand and squeezed gently, it is too ripe 

 to ship far. 



It pays to go over the trees several times, as the fruit 

 will not all reach the same stage of ripeness at the same 

 time and the smaller fruits that may be left for several 

 days on the trees will increase greatly in size and pack into 

 a much larger grade than if the tree is stripped at one 

 picking. 



Picking Pears 



It is necessary in putting out a first-class grade of 

 pears to go over the trees not less than three times, taking 

 at each picking only those pears which are ready to pick. 

 To know when to pick a pear can be learned only by ex- 

 perience. When left on the trees until they have begun to 

 color pears will become granular in the center, and in 

 storage they will break down at the core and become soft 

 and mushy. A pear for market needs to be picked when 

 it has reached its full size but is still green in color. In 

 some varieties, such as Bartlett and Cornice, the usual 

 method of knowing when a pear is ready to pick is when 

 the pear will snap off the stem when the fruit is lifted and 



