Leave the Stems On. 885 
them to become discolored. The picker must always 
bear in mind that every evidence of fruits having 
been touched by the hands detracts from their market 
value. Strawberries should always be picked with 
the stems on. A berry which has the hull pulled 
out is not fit for the market. The picker should 
grasp the stem itself and pinch it off between the 
thumb and the finger. 
Upon all fruits which grow on a distinet pedicel 
or stem, this stem should be allowed to remain. 
Pears which have the stems pulled ont or broken 
in two are never first-class fruits, no matter how 
good and uniform the specimens otherwise may 
be. This is even true of apples when they are 
put up for the finest dessert trade; but as they 
are ordinarily handled, very little attention is paid 
to leaving the stems on. Leaving the stems on is 
vital to the handling of plums and cherries, not 
only because the market demands it, but because 
the fruit will be very likely to rot if the stems 
are pulled out, and they will not pack so snuely, 
and will not stand the transportation so well. The 
stems of cherries, plums and currants, and the hulls 
of strawberries, serve a most useful purpose in hold- 
ing the fruits in place in the box or basket, and 
in taking up the slack from settling or shrinkage. 
A word may be expected in respect to the ex- 
act methods of handling fruit in the field. It is 
only in rare cases that fruit should be sent to the 
market in the packages in which the pickers place 
it; that is, it will need to be sorted from these 
Z 
