BuEEAu OP Ageicultuee 503 



tools should be disinfected after making each cut. Corrosive sub- 

 limate dissolved in water, one to 1,000, makes a good and cheap dis- 

 infectant. It is a deadly poison, however, and must be kept out of 

 ihe way of children. 



•The only successful method of controlling this disease is to cut 

 out and burn the infected parts. Sprays have no effect other than 

 they maj' kill the insects that carry it. Blight cures are worse than 

 useless. I say worse, for they leave the disease to go on unchecked 

 and may even spread it by means of the tools used to administer the 

 medicine. 



The canker should be cut out in the fall or early spring. The fall 

 is the best time as all infected branches can be detected by the un- 

 healthy foliage. Bees and insects may carry the bacteria long 

 distances, so when blight appears in an orchard all growers in that 

 district should co-operate in trying to stamp it out. 



Harvesting and Packing. 



There is probably no one thing that makes the northwestern 

 fruit more distinctive than its grade and packing. All the apples 

 are shipped in boxes. There are two sized boxes used — the Standard 

 and the Special. The inside measurements of the standard is lOi^x 

 ll'/^xl8 inches, with a cubical content, without distention, of 2173 

 cubic inches. The inside dimensions of the special are 10x11x20 

 with a cubical content .of 2200 cubic inches. The standard Win- 

 (^hester bushel contains 2150.4 cubic inches, so the western apple 

 box is just a trifle larger than the standard bushel. Also, they are 

 packed with a half to three-fourths inch bulge of top and bottom, 

 that adds about 150 cubic inches more to the contents. 



From the low headed tree a large portion of the fruit can be 

 ]iicked from the ground. Y\^hen I say picked, I mean hand picked. 

 There is no shaking of apples and then picking them up from the 

 ground, in western orchards. If an apple is accidentally dropped, 

 it is a cull. The fruit is carefully picked off by hand, placed in the 

 picking basket and laid, and not poured, in the orchard boxes. These 

 boxes are about one-third larger than the shipping box and have 

 cleats on top of the ends so they can be stacked on a wagon or in 

 the packing house without bruising the fruit. A few growers use 

 Iheir shipping boxes to pick fruit in, but this is not recommended, 

 as the boxes are almost sure to be soiled, and to present the best 

 nppearance a box must be bright and clean. 



After being picked, the apples are sorted and if they were 

 sprayed late, they are wiped. This is usually done Avith a pair of soft 

 canton flannel gloves, and it is not nearly so laborious and ex- 

 pensive an operation as one might think. By wiping I do not mean 

 polishing, but simply removing any spray or dirt. 



