Fruits and vegetables jumbled up together in any old 

 way. No wonder they do not Keep well 



This kind of apple should be used at once for 

 cider or vinegar. Store unbruised fruit 



The common cellar with earth floor, moderately 

 damp and cool, is thoroughly satisfactory 



New 

 ersejr 



What tO Do with the Apple Crop— By F. H. Valentine, i 



FRESH APPLES EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR FROM THE HOME ORCHARD— ECONOMICAL METHODS OF 

 HANDLING THIS MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL FRUITS, BOTH FOR HOME CONSUMPTION AND FOR MARKET 



THE best time to gather apples is when 

 they separate easily from the stem 

 if given a slight twisting motion. Definite 

 dates cannot be given for any variety, for 

 the time of ripening varies with the locality 

 and season. For immediate use, the fruits 

 may be allowed to become riper than when 

 they are to be stored for winter use. The 

 fruit must be picked and handled carefully 

 in order to avoid all bruising. This is a 

 most important operation, and has much 

 to do with the successful keeping and selling 

 qualities of the fruit. 



Picking is not a tedious operation from 

 low-headed trees. A man may pick as many 

 as forty or fifty barrels a day, though it is 

 doubtful whether such rapid work is con- 

 ducive to good keeping qualities. A large 

 portion of the fruit can be gathered while 

 the picker is standing on the ground, or from 

 an ordinary step-ladder. 



I have picked apples from old trees under 

 which one could drive a load of hay without 

 striking the branches. Eight to ten barrels 

 constituted a good day's picking from that 

 kind of tree. 



Round, handled baskets holding about one- 

 half bushel are the best for picking in, and 

 if these are lined with burlap, or padded, 

 it lessens the chance of injury to the fruit, 

 for bruises must be guarded against at any 

 cost, both for the sake of the appearance and 

 the keeping qualities. 



The bulk of the apple crop is marketed in barrels. 

 Face with a layer of fair samples, stem down 



For picking from high trees, where one 

 must climb about, and a basket is incon- 

 venient, an ordinary grain bag, with a stout 

 cord tied from one side of the open end, 

 around one of the lower corners of the bag, 

 makes a picking bag that can be slipped over 

 the shoulders. A small apple placed in 

 the corner makes a better hold for the cord. 

 But apples picked into such a bag are likely 

 to become bruised. 



Various kinds of fruit pickers are in use, 

 usually placed on the end of a long pole, 

 by which single fruits not easily reached 

 otherwise may be gathered, and are worth 

 while in an orchard of any size. 



Shaking is a last resort for inaccessible 

 fruits, or those of inferior quality intended 

 for immediate use for evaporating or cider, 

 where bruises don't so much matter. I have 

 seen a crop of fairly good fruit shaken from 

 the trees, scooped into baskets, pails, boxes, 

 and barrels, and sold at insignificant prices. 

 The best of this fruit, if carefully picked, 

 properly assorted and packed, would have 

 sold quickly for more money than the whole 

 mixed lot realized, and still have left the 

 lower grades for clear profit. 



The practice of dumping apples in piles 

 on the ground, to be exposed to storms and 

 sunshine for days, possibly weeks, is a bad 

 one. The fruit should be placed in a cool, 

 airy, protected place until the time for assort- 

 ing. Particular care must be taken to 

 remove all unsound and bruised fruit, for 

 these will impair the keeping qualities of the 

 good fruit. Put those kinds not likely to keep 

 well, where they can be used first while good. 

 The best disposition for bruised specimens, or 

 those likely to keep only a short time is 

 evaporating or canning. Apples too small 

 or poor for these purposes may be made 

 into cider, this being afterward turned into 

 vinegar. 



One of the sweet memories of my boyhood 

 reminds me of another good method of 

 preserving some of the home supply of 

 apples. The old orchards produced many 

 sweet apples. These were of slow sale, and 

 60 



brought low prices. So, every autumn, a load 

 of these was made into cider. This cider 

 was rich and, of course, sweet. The big brass 

 kettles were hung in the back yard, and 

 before daybreak of a frosty morning the fire 

 was roaring under them, and " boiling down" 

 had begun. More of the same kind of 

 apples were peeled, cored and quartered. 

 When the cider was boiled down to the 

 proper consistency, according to the judg- 

 ment of the discriminating housewife, the 

 apples were put in. When they were cooked 

 soft, but not enough so as to fall to pieces, 

 this dark-colored, toothsome mass was 

 transferred to its winter receptacle, an iron- 

 bound barrel in the back woodshed. Here 

 it would freeze in cold weather, but never 

 so hard but it furnished a welcome addition 

 to the brown buckwheats, pork tenderloins, 

 home-made sausages or ham, and dough- 

 nuts, for the morning meal during the winter 

 months. 



Besides the boiled cider used in making 

 this toothsome sauce, some more was put 

 away in sundry jugs and used later to im- 

 prove the delicate flavor of the mince pies 

 and other culinary productions. Some of 

 these found ready sale in town. 



Storing the fruit is often one of the hardest 

 problems for the man with a few apples, 

 who wishes to prolong the use and enjoyment 

 of them as long as possible. Unless the 



The modern retail trade prefers small packages. 

 Fancy fruits are wrapped individually in papers 



