128 



should be picked earlier than if they are to be put into cold 

 storage. One must not, however, pick apples -too green, be- 

 cause they are more likely to scald in storage. Experience 

 during the past few years has proved that apples must be 

 picked several days earlier than they have been in order to 

 obtain satisfactory results from storage. 



Harvesting. 



In picking apples, handle them as carefully as eggs. Em- 

 ploy help who can pick with two hands. The recent labor 

 shortage has forced fruit growers to use women, boys and 

 girls to help harvest the fruit. Farmerettes have in the ma- 

 jority of cases proved very satisfactory. Many fruit men re- 

 port that the farmerettes have been the most satisfactory help 

 which they have ever had at harvest time, and they prefer to 

 continue employing them as long as they are available. 



Great care should be exercised not to detach the stems, 

 because when a stem is pulled out it breaks the skin; this 

 allows the bacteria to enter the apple, resulting in rot and 

 disease in an otherwise sound apple. Many markets refuse 

 apples with 25 per cent of the stems missing. Equal care 

 should be exercised in picking apples to leave all fruit spurs 

 unbroken upon the limbs. Each broken spur means that 

 several apples are deducted from the next three or four years' 

 crops. This is an absolutely unnecessary loss if due care is 

 exercised. Help should never be allowed to climb into the 

 trees while picking, especially young trees, because broken 

 branches and bruised limbs are bound to result from such a 

 procedure. Wounds and bruises upon the limbs constitute 

 ideal conditions under which canker and other diseases start 

 and flourish. Light, strong stepladders should be used for low 

 trees; for taller trees, light pointed ladders, which will fit. into 

 crotches in the limbs, are better then straight ladders. Ex- 

 tension ladders are necessary for very tall trees. 



There are many kinds of picking bags, buckets and baskets 

 upon the market. Most growers prefer the oak, splint, half- 

 bushel basket which has a swinging bale, allowing the basket 

 to be lowered into the barrel or other receptacle and the con- 

 tents poured out without any danger of bruising the fruit. 



