350 BUSH-FRUITS 



is needed to prevent pickers from crushing the berries 

 or tearing them from the stems. It is so much easier 

 to grasp a cluster and give it a pull than it is to care- 

 fully sever the stem, that only the strictest vigilance 

 will insure proper care in the work. This is written 

 with a very distinct remembrance of the work of some 

 Irish girls, who thought it much more convenient to 

 strip the berries from the clusters and throw them 

 in loose than to pick the stems at all, especially in 

 the middle of the baskets, where less likely to be 

 detected. All such berries will quickly spoil, the juice 

 which exudes from them will soon render the others 

 wet and sticky, and a general collapse of the whole 

 package is likely to result. Varieties like the Fay, 

 which have more clear space of stem at the base of 

 the clusters, have a distinct advantage in this regard, 

 for they may be more readily picked without crushing 

 any of the fruits. For shipping purposes, the fruit 

 must be picked while still hard and firm, in order to 

 carry well, but for home use or near market it should 

 not be picked too soon, especially for dessert use. 

 If left on the bushes until thoroughly ripe and soft, 

 they make an admirable dessert fruit. For this 

 purpose the White Grape is one of the best, 

 being less acid than most varieties. The fruiting 

 season may be prolonged until autumn, if the fruit 

 is protected by covering the plants with light cheese- 

 cloth or netting. 



The fruit is commonly marketed in quart baskets, 

 put up in bushel crates like other berries, but of late 

 years the grape basket has been gaining in favor as 



