230 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Only one apple should grow at a place and spacing of four to six 

 inches is commended. Although this work is tedious and expen- 

 sive, it is profitable, because of the improved price which can be 

 had for the larger fruit which will be secured, and it is desirable 

 in the -effects of thinning on the tree. It will be relieved from the 

 exhaustion of overbearing, induced to yield annual crops, and often 

 saved from breaking down with a too heavy burden. 



Cultivation and Irrigation. All that has been urged in measures 

 to secure adequate moisture supply has full force with the apple. 

 Excepting the early varieties, it is a fruit with a long growing sea- 

 son and therefore requires continuous moisture to secure size and 

 quality. Most California apples are grown on deep, retentive 

 soils in regions of large rainfall and if this is conserved by thor- 

 ough cultivation, good fruit can be secured. It is doubtless true 

 that apples in even such places in California would sometimes be 

 improved by irrigation just as they are in interior and mountain 

 districts. 



Fertilizers have been thus far but little used in California 

 apple orchards but they are manifestly n'eeded. 



There has arisen recently evidence of the unfinished character 

 of the fruit in some districts because it has shown blemishes after 

 picking and during shipment which can not be attributed to any 

 parasitic encroachment. This is probably due to some unfavorable 

 condition in the local climate or to some other stress upon the tree 

 which prevents it from doing perfect work. 



GATHERING AND STORING APPLES 



The disposition in this State, as elsewhere, is to allow the fruit 

 to hang too long upon the tree before gathering. It was long ago 

 demonstrated that an apple for long-keeping must be picked a 

 little in advance of full maturity. As late fall weather in California 

 is so delightful, there is more temptation to delay the picking than 

 where the approach of winter admonishes the grower to get his 

 fruit under cover. Picking apples for shipment should be done 

 just when the seeds begin to blacken and when the fruit yields to 

 pressure. If left on until fully ripe, and the seeds all black, the 

 fruit is apt not to keep well. This rule applies to fall apples for 

 shipment to distant markets, or for apples to be stored at home. 



Mr. H. G. Keesling of Edenvale, Santa Clara County, gives a 

 sketch of his way of handling apples on a small scale : In picking 

 apples we insist on just as careful handling as in picking other 

 fruits, and we find that the picking pail made of tin or light gal- 

 vanized iron, holding about twelve quarts, or nearly twenty pounds 

 of apples, is the best vessel to pick in, and we use them right 

 through the season for cherries, apricots, peaches and even prunes. 



