Handling the Crop 293 



varieties as Jonathan and Esopus too long on the trees 

 results in a much shortened life for the fruit in storage. 



3. For green varieties and particularly early green 

 apples, size is an important factor. The grower should 

 not wait for the yellow ground color, otherwise he will lose 

 through over-maturity of his fruit. If two pickings are 

 made, it will be found that the apples left on the tree 

 will quickly benefit in size by the removal of a portion of 

 the crop. It must be considered that size will vary accord- 

 ing to crop, age of trees, and season, so that no definite 

 idea of the proper size at which to pick can be given. 



4. It has been recommended that apples should not be 

 picked until the seeds have turned brown. While the 

 color of the seeds may be taken as an indication of matu- 

 rity, it should not be considered as always reliable. The 

 seeds should always be brown before the apples are picked, 

 but the brown color of the seeds does not necessarily indi- 

 cate maturity. In other words, immature fruit may have 

 brown seeds. 



5. Such varieties as Mclntosh, Wagener, and Tomp- 

 kins King tend to drop before maturity, and Stayman, 

 Wealthy and Grimes to drop badly with the wind. The 

 grower should watch these tendencies and should regard 

 heavy dropping as an indication of need for immediate 

 picking. 



No other operation in the physical handling is more 

 essential to the life of the fruit than careful picking. 

 The pickers should be impressed with the importance of 

 preventing bruises, punctures or abrasions of the skin, 

 since such injuries permit the entrance of serious storage 

 decay. The fungi which cause most of the storage decay 

 can not injure sound fruit. Careless picking hands may 



