18 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1918 



cause they are then likely to be too imma- 

 ture. The safest way to judge when a can- 

 taloupe is ripe is to note when the stem begins 

 to crack at the point where it joins the fruit. 

 At this stage the fruit will be firm, almost 

 hard. They may be kept in a cold place for 

 several days or a week, if necessary, or they 

 may be ripened in a day or two by keeping 

 them in a very warm place, such as a closed 

 greenhouse or a hotbed with the sash on — 

 preferably not touching the soil but on boards 

 or bricks. As the fruits naturally ripen first 

 at the blossom end, they should be turned 

 once so that the stem end will face the sun. 

 This will tend to make the flesh of uniform 

 thickness and quality. When the rind begins 

 to feel springy but not too soft, wash the 

 fruits, let them dry in a breezy cool place, 

 then lay them on the cellar floor and later 

 in the refrigerator, so as to be cold when eaten. 



Sfc 5fc Sfc 



When is a watermelon ripe ? An experi- 

 enced grower will point out each ripe one in a 

 field but that is because of his trained eye. 

 Steps in this training are about as follows: 

 Note the color of the unquestionably imma- 

 ture — the "green" fruits. Compare this 

 color with that of a specimen apparently 

 riper. The "green as grass" look and the 

 whitish bloom have gone! Also the skin of 

 the ripe specimen is harder to dent with the 

 finger nail. Now look for the tendril or curl 

 on the vine opposite to the fruit stem. Gen- 

 erally this dries up about the time the fruit 

 is ripe. But don't be hasty. Turn the fruit 

 over and examine the underside. A creamy 

 color is a further indication of ripeness. But 

 wait yet. "Fillip" your finger against the 

 fruit; then do the same to several undoubtedly 

 "green" melons and carefully note the dif- 

 ference in sound. To quote a colored mam- 

 my's instructions to her son: "If dey says 



'plunk' dey's green; but if dey says 'plink' 

 dey's ripe!" Again note differences in color 

 and then as a final test "plug" the fruit; that 

 is cut out a pyramidal piece about two inches 

 square. If it is greenish or white — you have 

 been too hasty. If it is ripe, your palate 

 will approve your judgment. 



' Gather the fruits of apples, peaches, plums, 

 apricots and nectarines as soon as they are ripe 

 enough to use either for cooking or for dessert; 

 for thereby you conserve the plant food and 

 direct it into other fruits that are ripening and 

 make them larger, finer and somewhat later. 



Now is the time to prevent disappointment 

 common at grape harvesting time — rotting 

 of the fruit. Of course spraying with bor- 

 deaux mixture will do wonders as a preventive 

 of this fungus malady, so use this spray 

 freely. But still more may be done to get 

 really choice grapes. Having done the 

 fundamental work now cover each cluster with 

 a common manila paper sack or one of the 

 special wire topped bags made for this purpose 

 and procurable at the stor.es that handle 

 gardeners' tools and accessories. They should 

 not cost more than one cent each even in these 

 war times. All that is necessary is to slip a 

 sack over a cluster, crumple its top so it won't 

 slip off" and then wait till the fruit is ripe. This 



As soon as possible after fruit has been plucked 

 from the tree or bush, place it in the shade so it 

 will not become scalded by the sun. As an ex- 

 periment (to test the value of this suggestion) 

 have a few specimens in the full sun for a day 

 after being gathered. Place these in a cool 

 room in the house with some others picked at 

 the same time but kept in the shade as soon 

 as gathered. Then note from time to time 

 which lot keeps best and which tastes best. 

 Your eye and your palate will be arbiters. 



will usually be two to five days later than with 

 unsacked fruit but the heightened quality 

 and increased size will more than compensate 

 for the delay. Besides, one can thus be far 

 more sure of having ripe instead of rotten 



fruit. 



* * * 



The pear is the one fruit that should never 

 be allowed to ripen on the tree. When it does, 

 if it is an early variety it is prone to become 

 "flat" in flavor and in many cases rotten 

 around the core. The worst offender in this 

 respect is probably Clapp's Favorite which if 

 allowed to hang on the tree until it tempts the 

 eye, will either fall with a splash of decay or 

 squeeze through one's fingers if grasped too 

 roughly. The later varieties, if allowed to 

 hang too long, usually develop grittiness 

 around the core. They are mature when 

 they have reached full size and will part read- 

 ily from the tree without either breaking the 

 twig or the fruit stem. The sure way to know 

 which ones are ready is to lift the fruits, one 

 by one, upward and outward so the stem forms 

 an angle with the twig quite different from 

 that at which it hangs. If the fruit does not 

 separate from the twig after it has been 

 moved through an eighth to a quarter of a 

 circle, it is not nearly ready; also if the stem or 

 the twig breaks the fruit is too immature. 

 After gathering handle the fruits as carefully 

 as eggs to avoid bruising, then store them in a 

 bureau drawer, a clothes closet or some similar 

 place where there is little or no circulation of 

 air. Look over the early varieties every two 

 or three days and remove the ripe ones for 

 immediate use. Later varieties may be 

 stored like winter apples — handled carefully 

 and kept cold until a week or two before they 

 are needed as ripe fruit. They may then be 

 placed in warmer quarters as just suggested 

 for early varieties. 



Prepare Mow to Save It for Winter 



What to Do to Be Sure of Getting Best Results in Keeping the Garden Products for the Lean Months 



GROWING the crops for winter is 

 only one half of the work. Equally 

 important, of course, is keeping 

 them properly. And to do this it 

 is necessary to make plans in advance and 

 to have all preparations made to carry them 

 out thoroughly. In other words, prepared- 

 ness now for the winter campaign is just as 

 essential as spring preparedness was for the 

 summer campaign. 



npHERE are, of course, three general 

 ■*■ methods of saving for winter. While 

 many things can be kept by two or even by 

 all three of these methods, it should be possi- 

 ble to figure out in advance about how the dif- 

 ferent vegetables will be proportioned. The 

 three methods of keeping vegetables for win- 

 ter are, in brief, I, storing; 2, canning and 

 pickling; and 3, drying or dehydrating. 



To begin with, there is the question as to 

 what can be saved for winter and the best 

 way of saving it. To be stored are dried 

 beans, cabbage, carrots, onions, parsnips, 

 potatoes, salsify, squash, and turnips. 



To be canned or pickled: asparagus, string 

 beans, lima beans, beets, cauliflower, swiss 

 chard and other greens, sweet corn, cucumbers, 

 melons, onions, peas, peppers, pumpkins, rhu- 

 barb, spinach, squash, tomatoes. 



Especially good for dehydrating, green 

 beans, beets, cabbage, sugar corn, horse- 

 radish, green peas, sweet potatoes, squash 

 and pumpkins. 



How Much Space Will Be Required? 



' I TTE first consideration is room. This can 

 -*■ be quickly estimated as follows: Every 

 bushel of root crops or potatoes to be stored 

 will require about 2,200 cubic inches of 

 space. This is the approximate capacity of a 

 box with inside measurements of 13 x 13 x 13 

 in. The same rule applies to the various 

 fruits. Allowance must be made, of course, 

 for the space occupied by the containers 

 themselves; if the product is to be put up in 

 barrels or crates, this will amount, roughly, 

 to 25 per cent. more. 



Products which are canned or preserved 

 vary considerably in the amount of space 

 they will require in relation to their bulk as 

 gathered. Some things, such as corn on the 

 cob, occupy considerably more space canned 

 than before. Others, especially peas and 

 pickles, and such things as have to be "cooked 

 down" before being "put up" take up con- 

 siderably less space. As a rule there will not 

 be above a pint of product for each quart of 

 raw material. A dozen quart jars occupy 

 approximately a space of about l| x 2 ft. 

 One of the convenient things about cans and 

 glasses is that they can be packed in boxes and 

 stored on top of each other so that no space 

 is wasted. 



Vegetables to be dried or dehydrated will 

 lose from three quarters to nine tenths of their 

 bulk and weight. The finished product is' 

 kept best in paper bags, or in waxed paper 

 cartons or containers which can be stored 



in cans or in boxes. Where space is a serious 

 matter in saving products for winter de- 

 hydrating is of the greatest advantage. 



What You Will Need For Storing 



THE general principle of storing is to keep 

 as many things as possible in normal 

 condition by controlling the temperature 

 and the moisture. The majority of things 

 require to be kept cool and fairly dry — a 

 temperature between 34 and 40, and the air 

 neither saturated with moisture, as in a damp 

 cellar, nor as dry as in a heated room. Many 

 things may be stored successfully outside 

 in pits, etc., and will keep longer than even in a 

 good cellar. The disadvantage is that they 

 are difficult to get at during the winter 

 months. 



Out-door Pits and Frames 



' I TIE simplest form of keeping vegetables 

 *■ for winter is a "hole in the ground" 

 covered over with soil and litter to keep the 

 contents from freezing. This may be elab- 

 orated upon as much as may be desired. The 

 essential thing is to have the pit in a thor- 

 oughly well drained spot where there can be no 

 standing water in the bottom of the trench 

 or pit. In making a pit of this kind, plan 

 in advance and have on hand ready for use 

 in the fall enough clean cinders or gravel to 

 make sure of good drainage at the bottom, , 

 and a load of marsh or soft hay or clean straw 

 for covering directly over the vegetables, 



