284 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



beauties, for their preservation from bruising and decay, 

 and for sending them forward to their destination with 

 the least possible delay : the details of these several parts 

 of the business will be left for the exercise of the ingenu- 

 ity of the parties most deeply interested. In the class of 

 fruits which are so constituted as to bear and indeed to 

 require picking, before they have reached the period of 

 perfect ripeness we shall find several particulars that need 

 consideration. First, it will be found that the proper time 

 for gathering them varies considerably. Thus, with early 

 apples and pears, a few days only embrace the best period, 

 during which they may be gathered without becoming 

 wilted if plucked too soon, or decaying if left too late. 

 Even with winter fruits, we find that, to have them in 

 perfection, some varieties require to be gathered much 

 earlier than the time usually assigned for harvesting the 

 general crop. It is somewhat singular also, that this course 

 very considerably extends their time of keeping, and that 

 some of those varieties which would become dry, mealy, 

 and insipid, early in the winter, if gathered too late, 

 will remain sound, firm, plump, and juicy, and retain all 

 their fine flavor through the winter, if they have been 

 taken from the tree at an earlier period of the season. 

 They must be left upon the tree until properly developed, 

 however, and then be carefully kept in a cool apartment. 



The usual season for gathering winter fruits is October, 

 before the access of severe frosts, and at a time when the 

 wood-growth for the season has been completed, and the 

 foliage is nearly ready to separate from its attachment to 

 the tree. The fruits will then generally part readily from 

 the twigs, without either breaking them or rupturing the 



