The Gathering of the Fruit 365 



fruits; but the questions of marketing may be given brief 

 consideration, particularly in their bearing on the work of 

 the grower himself and on farm practices. It is not in- 

 tended here to take up the larger questions of commercial 

 pre-cooUng, refrigeration, cold-storage, transportation and 

 salesmanship. 



PICKING FRXriTS 



If it is worth while to exercise care and ingenuity to 

 grow the fruit, it is equally important to take pains with 

 the finished product. It is a pity to miss the best rewards of 

 one's labor by carelessness or inattention at the harvest. 



When to -pick. 



Just when and how the fruit should be picked for best 

 market results depends very largely on the species or 

 variety of fruit, and greatly also on the distance to which it 

 is to be shipped. The closer and better the market, the riper 

 the fruit should be when taken from the plant. If one is 

 fortunate enough to have a special or personal market, 

 delivering the fruit to the consumer direct, then one may 

 hope to retain this market only by delivering the products 

 in the very best dessert condition. Such consumers are 

 willing to pay a sufficient extra price for the advantage of 

 having the fruit taken from the plant when it is in its 

 highest state of edible quality. Most serious mistakes are 

 constantly made in the picking of blackberries, for 

 example. It is ordinarily considered that when the berries 

 are black they are ripe, but such is not the case. They 

 are fully ripe only when they shake from the bushes 

 readily, and when they are soft and free from sharp acidity. 

 In this condition, blackberries can be handled direct to 

 the consumers in a local market that is only a few miles 



