270 Practical Orcharding On Rough Lands. 



enough to become over ripe. There being no 

 set rules to govern us, is it any wonder that 

 we make so many mistakes in picking our 

 apples? 



By What Shall We be Governed in Pick- 

 ING.-In order that we may decide when to 

 pick it is necessary that we not only take into 

 consideration the climatic and soil conditions 

 which have such marked influence upon the 

 maturity of the fruit, but we should study the 

 fruit itself, remembering that it is the seed case. 

 As has been said before, the mission of all trees 

 is to reproduce themselves. This reproduction 

 is through seeds. It just so happens that we 

 use the seed case (which we call fruits) for 

 food. There is no better way for us to judge 

 as to when the work of the tree is complete 

 than when it has ripened its seed. 



It would not be practical, however, neither 

 is it necessary that we open the fruit and ex- 

 amine the seed every time in order to decide 

 whether it is ready to pick. We may judge 

 from the color of the case. In fact this color- 

 ing of the case seems to have a double pur- 

 pose. First to indicate the seeds are ripe, as 

 well as to make the cases attractive, so that they 

 may be eaten and the seed set free, or that the 

 cases may be carried to market and seeds dis- 

 tributed in other fields. 



