CA iVA DIA N 110 R TICUL 'lURlST. 



135 



from bright c;iriiiiiH" to light yellow, truthful, ;uid does not at all exagger- 

 wliicli is so characteristic, is not repre- ate the l)eauty of a fully developed 

 sented ; but in other respects it is specimen. 



THE APPLE HARVEST. 



SEPTEMBER is a busy month with 

 the fruit grower. The early part 

 finds him in the midst of his P.artlett 

 pear harvest, which must be completed 

 quickly before they are over-ripe for 

 shipping; and, later on, full of anxiety 

 to exchange his golden Crawfords for 

 golden dollars before their ephemera^ 

 glory fades. Closely following upon 

 the summer fruits come fall apples and 

 fall peai-s, and then the great harvest of 

 winter apples. No time for pleasure 

 excursions, nor even to attend to fairs, 

 unless at a sacriHce of the most prec- 

 ious days of the whole year. 



Generally speaking our winter apples 

 are allowed to hang too long to be 

 handled to the best advantage. At 

 one time it was tlie rule to begin gath- 

 ering them about the 9th of October, 

 but the high winds of that month made 

 such havoc with them that we soon 

 changed that rule. The 20th of Sep- 

 tember is none too soon to begin with 

 such kinds as have attained full size 

 and color, and if by that time all the 

 apples upon a tree have not reached 

 maturity, it will pay to make two pick- 

 ings, leaving the greener and smaller 

 ones to grow and color up. Attention 

 to the details of preparing fruit for 

 market always returns a good profit 

 and must not be grudged. Careful 

 handling and careful sorting are of par- 

 amount importance. Many throw 

 apples into the basket as if they were 



potatoes, or stjueeze them with tliumij 

 and linger as if they were made of 

 stone, and so leave marks which spoil 

 their beauty. Round swing-handle, 

 cloth-lined baskets, attached with a 

 wire hook to the rounds ot the ladders, 

 are the best for apple picking. 



Most orchardists empty their apples 

 in piles upon the ground, but sorting, 

 in that case, is back breaking work, and 

 every rain delays it. Some empty them 

 in heaps upon the barn floor, but in a 

 large orchard this means much labor in 

 carting. Our custom has been to empty 

 into barrels in the orchard, head up with 

 out pressure, wi-ite the name of apple on 

 the end, and store under cover ; and 

 then in packing empty them out on a 

 packing-table for sorting. For young 

 orchards and scattered varieties this is 

 the best plan we know of, for the im- 

 portant work of packing can then be 

 done in a clean, dry place without mov- 

 ing about with nails and mallets and 

 press from one part of the orchard to 

 another. A handy bushel crate is de- 

 scribed in the Farm and Home, and a 

 similar one is used by the Grimsby 

 Evaporating and Canning Company. 

 Fig. 73 6 representsthiscrate, which may 

 be made 18 inches long, 15 wide and 1 1 

 deep. Four slats, 3 inches wide, are 

 used for the bottom, tiie two outside 

 ones coming flush with the outside bot- 

 tom slats, to wiiich they are nailed. 

 Handles are cut in the ends, using a 



