PICKING 



267 



If apples are picked too soon, they not only lack the color 

 that in many varieties is essential to their ready sale but, since 

 the change from a sour to a sweeter stage has not taken place 

 to any marked degree, they are less edible than those which are 

 allowed to remain longer on the tree. There may also be some 

 decrease in the size of 

 apples picked too soon. 



If apples suffer by being 

 picked too soon or too 

 late, just when ought they 

 to be picked ? The author 

 wishes that he could give 

 a helpful answer to this 

 question, but he feels, as 

 many other orchardists 

 have felt, that a definite 

 statement on this point 

 cannot easily be made. In 

 general, it may be said that 

 at the time of picking, the 

 apple should have a large 

 degree of the character- 

 istic color of its variety and 

 should be of the average 

 size of the variety. It 

 should be firm of flesh, but 

 should not have the firm- 

 ness of immaturity. It 

 should not be mushy or 

 mellow, nor have a dull, 

 over-ripe, stale appearance. 



How to pick. Nature has supplied a small joint at which the 

 stem of the apple may be easily severed from the twig. This is 

 marked by a collection of wrinkles on the twig. If the apple is 

 grasped and pulled away from the tree, the joint may break cor- 

 rectly, but the chances are that the stem will be torn out of the 

 apple. This is not the way to pick apples from the trees. The 

 proper method is to place the hand carefully around the apple to 



Fig. 126. At work harvesting 



A good stepladder, a cloth bag, and an energetic 



man complete the outfit. Harvesting is then done 



quickly and cheaply 



