178 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENIKG. 



or waterings, however, differs from those already 

 referred to, in heing for the benefit of the fruit 

 rather than of the trees. Strong manure - water, 

 however, should not be given within a month of the 

 time of gathering. 



Tests of Kipeness.— These are less easily 

 applied than many practical men suppose. Some 

 insist on full size and colour, but both may be 

 attained long before the Apples are ripe enough to 

 gather. Besides, the same Apples in the same garden 

 are seldom exactly alike in size and colour two seasons 

 running. Climate as well as site, soil, culture, result 

 in wide diversities of size and great variations in 

 colouring. So much are Apples modified by such 

 changing conditions, that skilled pomologists have 

 often considerable difficulty in identifying the same 

 variety of Apples grown and shown over such wide 

 areas as Exeter, London, Manchester, and Edin- 

 burgh. Fortunately, however, there are at least 

 four tests of maturity that are as constant as they 

 are trustworthy. These may be defined as the drop, 

 touch, seed, and flavour tests. 



The first is infallible, unless brought about by 

 disease, treatment, or insects. Canker and mildew 

 may both cause Apple-trees to drop their fruit pre- 

 maturely. Over-cropping, or scarcity of food or 

 water, may also cause the fruit to drop. Maggots, 

 again, seem to bore their way through the connect- 

 ing link or line between the tree and its fruit, and 

 maggoty Apples fall in showers. In this case, how- 

 over, the maggot hastens maturity, such as it is, and 

 the fruit can hardly be said to fall before it has 

 reached the stage of maggot-induced ripeness. 



But apart from these extraneous causes of natural 

 falling, the drop test is a sure and certain one, the 

 tree's notice to quit being an absolute proof of the 

 maturity of its produce. 



Unfortunately, the drop test is of comparatively 

 limited application. Only the summer or early 

 autumn varieties can be subjected to it, and so soon 

 as sufficient of these drop to demonstrate that the 

 bulk of the crop .is ripe, it should be carefully 

 gathered and not allowed to fall. 



The Touoll Test. — This is of far wider appli- 

 cation, and applies to the bulk, of Apples and Pears. 

 It requires, however, considerabln ekiU in the using. 

 The touch of pomologists differs as widely as hand- 

 shaking in society, that is from a one-fingered tip to 

 the veritable wring of a steel-like vice. Now our 

 Apple maturity touch test can hardly be too gently 

 applied. A simple lifting up or change of position 

 of the fruit, and it falls in the hand. Try a few 

 more ; and if the result is similar, gather the crop 

 with confidence that it is ripe enough for storing ; 



but should the fruit cling to the branch, and refuse 

 to come off without a portion of the spur with 

 leaves adhering to it, leave the fruit on the tree, 

 unless compelled by approaching frost to gather 

 them. 



The Seed Test.— Cut a few fruit into halves, 

 and carefully examine and test the seeds ; if they are 

 plump, brown, and relatively hajd to former seeds, 

 the fruit may be gathered with perfect security if it 

 is readily separated from the tree as well. 



Unless the last test is present, examine the seeds 

 afresh, and unless compelled by weather or lateness 

 of the season, give the fruit the benefit of any 

 doubt that arises, and leave the . Apples on the trees 

 as long as possible. 



The Flavour Test. — Unfortunately, this is 

 only available where it is least needed, that is, 

 among the earlier Apples ; the later ones have two 

 chief stages of maturitj' — one that indicates the 

 time to gather them, the other the time to eat them. 

 Hence, many of our best Apples are gathered long 

 before they are fit to eat. 



The ripening process, being after a certain stage 

 as much chemical as vital, goes on to completion 

 after the fruits are removed from the trees. 



This fact, however, by no means lessens the im- 

 portance of gathering late Apples at the proper 

 time; for if gathered too early, the conversion of 

 acids into saccharine matter can never be perfected ; 

 the fruits also shrivel, and lose much of their weight 

 as well as their beauty. The fiavour test, however, 

 determines with absolute certainty the exact time to 

 gather summer Apples, as well as the season for 

 eating all others. If more generally applied, early 

 Apples would generally be gathered before they 

 reach to the drop test ; for it may be taken as abso- 

 lutely proved that they either reach their most re- 

 freshing and aromatic state before they drop, or 

 develop it after gathering, if gathered a week or 

 ten days before the tree itself easts them off. For 

 it should be borne in mind that the tree con- 

 cerns itself only with maturing the seed, and has no 

 care nor interest in the fleshy envelope (our edible 

 Apple) in which the seed is embedded. 



Gathering. — The careful cultivator and all 

 amateur growers of Apples will, of course, carefully 

 gather the fruit by hand. It should also be laid in 

 flat baskets, lined with moss or cotton wool, as 

 every bruise will hasten decomposition and lower 

 quality. Orchardists, on a large scale, very often 

 gather roughly, shaking down the fruit, and pack- 

 ing in packs, or large baskets. If converted into 

 cider, or sold and consumed at once, it matters less, 



