THE HARVEST OF THE APPLE-TREE 103 



best quality when it ripens on the tree and is picked when 

 fit to eat. In this respect it differs from the pear. One 

 reason why store apples are usually poor is because they 

 must be picked long before ripe to stand shipment. In 

 my experience it is most difiScult to find a man who will 

 pick apples when ripe; he is usually possessed to pull 

 them green, thinking that if the fruit is full grown and 

 has a red cheek it is therefore ready to be plucked. 



One would expect the best summer and fall apples to 

 come from nearby local orchards, but practically this is 

 not the case because the grower will not allow them to 

 remain on the tree until they are fit. Of course the really 

 ripe apple will not keep long and it does not stand rough 

 handling, but this does not affect the fact that, for eating, 

 an apple should be naturally ripe. In every city, small or 

 large, a good trade can be built up for local ripe hand- 

 picked fruit of the first quality, in competition with the 

 best commercial supply. 



Winter apples are picked in the Northern States in 

 October, sometimes late in September. They are then 

 full grown, but are hard and inedible. The red varieties 

 are full colored ; the green ones show more or less yellow. 

 Light early frost does not injure them on the tree. Usu- 

 ally they are placed at first in piles or windrows; and 

 from these piles they are barreled or boxed for market. 

 If the choicest grades are to be made, they should be 

 taken to a packing-house. 



The apple is an easy fruit to pick. The stem parts 

 readily from the spur or twig. Yet if the harvester is 

 choice of his trees he will work deftly rather than 

 roughly, not to injure the bearing wood. The fruits are 

 placed in baskets as they are plucked, sometimes in a 



