CHAPTER XI. 
GATHERING FRUIT. 
Tis operation should be performed with care, 
but not until the seeds have changed from a white 
to a brown color, and then by raising the pear in the 
hand if it separates easily at the end of the stem. 
The fruit spurs or buds of the pear, being already 
developed for the next season, if the operator is not 
very careful while gathering the fruit, many of these 
spurs will be broken off and the crop of the follow- 
ing year will be thereby lessened. 
The whole of the fruit should not be removed at 
one picking, for it seldom happens that it is all 
equally far advanced. ‘There is generally a differ- 
ence of ten or twelve days in the time of maturing 
even on the same tree. 
Our method is to go over the orchard three or 
four different times, taking off only those specimens 
that are in condition to be placed in the fruit room 
or closet. With a little practice, the eye, at once, 
detects the pears that are ripe enough to gather. 
Pears will always sell more readily and bring 
