CHAPTER XVI 



PICKING THE FRUIT 



f THE subject of picking and packing fruit is one of vital 

 importance to the western fruit-grower, who depends to a 

 large extent on the demands of the eastern market. The 

 inter-mountain states, which embrace some of the best 

 fancy fruit-growing sections of the world, do not, by any 

 means, contain the most desirable markets. The western 

 markets are new, and the consumer has not been educated 

 to pay fancy prices for fancy fruit. Not only this, but the 

 western markets are no longer able to consume the western- 

 grown fruit. The grower must study the demands of the 

 distant markets, and, so long as the requirements can be 

 met with justice to the profit side of his ledger, he will 

 do well to cater to their demands. Even the experienced 

 fruit-grower, thus isolated from his markets, to say nothing 

 of the large class of inexperienced growers, might profit by 

 the writers' efforts in this chapter on the picking and the 

 packing of fruit. It is hoped that a general discussion of 

 these subjects will help the grower to market his fruit more 

 intelligently, and, to a certain extent, aid him to grasp 

 the meaning of the stock phrases of the wholesaler so often 

 accompanying unsatisfactory returns. 



The terms "pack poor," "poor grade," and "fruit in 

 poor condition/' so often used by the buyer, often mean 



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