62 FIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTURE, 
Great pains must be taken in the sorting. Few people 
are aware of what constitutes a first-class apple. Such 
an apple must rot be immature, over-ripe, wormy, or 
otherwise injured in any part, scabby or bruised. Very 
small apples from the interior of the tree are usually im- 
mature. Large and highly colored apples are apt to be 
wormy, over-ripe, or of poor quality. With some experi- 
ence, one can be able to tell a first-class apple by its feel- 
ing. First-class apples should not have their stems pulled 
out. Second-class winter apples can.be put upon the 
market at once for immediate consumption. : 
Winter apples should be picked in cool weather, and 
they should be handled on the shady side of the tree. A 
detached apple will ripen very rapidly in the warm sun, 
and its keeping qualities will be impaired. In order to 
keep apples, bear in mind the fact that they must be 
kept cool. If one has not a good apple cellar, he should 
store them in a shed until cold weather, or in any cool 
building which has windows opening to the northward 
and none to the southward ; in short, put them anywhere 
where they will keep cool. If the apples begin to assume 
a yellowish cast, they are getting too ripe. An atmos- 
phere may be too dry, but a decidedly moist one is equally 
dangerous. Some cellars keep apples well, but most of 
them do not. The fruit cellar should be deep, cool, 
clean, well ventilated, and should have a northern expos- 
ure. A cellar which is stoned up in a gravelly soil, with 
a brick or gravel floor, should keep apples well. Keep 
the north windows open until there is danger of freez- 
ing. Shut them up on wet days. Water will freeze 
before apples will. If a person has a good cellar for 
