THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEX. 



179 



though, it seems a pity to injure good fruit for lack 

 of a little more time and care in gathering. Many 

 of the growers for market and the larger private 

 growers, however, gather their fruit Avith care, and 

 skilfully pack in bushel or other baskets and boxes 

 at once, to avoid further risks of bruising and conse- 

 quent injury. Gentle gathering and smooth carriage 

 are very important to the good and sound keeping 

 of the fruit. The former is also of great moment to 

 the trees. By rough gathering, smashing the fruit 

 dovm with sticks, &:c., not only is the current crop 

 ruined in the harvesting, but the succeeding year's 

 crop greatly lessened by the wholesale destruction 

 of fruit-buds. The amateur and true devotee to 

 fruit-culture is not likely to hasten over the gather- 

 ing of his fruit, which he will probably find his 

 highest horticultural pleasure of the year. 



The Packing of Apples. — Very much has 

 been said on this vexed subject ; fierce paper wars 

 have been waged over boxes and baskets of different 

 forms and sizes, and yet wider diversities of opinion 

 have been manifested over the packing materials as 

 buffers between the fruit to prevent them from 

 beiag bruised in transit. Hay, straw, chaff, paper 

 shavings, sawdust, cotton- wool, moss, malt combs, dry 

 earth, cocoa-fibre refuse, &c., have all been recom- 

 mended for this purpose. The Americans have weU- 

 nigh settled the matter in their own characteristic 

 fashion, by ignoring all our old-world practices and 

 experiences. They simply put their Apples into 

 barrels, heaping them up until they fonn a flat cone 

 in the centre, considerably above tbe level of the 

 head ; then by slow pressure the head is forced in 

 or on, and the Apples despatched thus aU over the 

 world. And, strange to say, they arrive by hun- 

 dreds or thousands in all our great markets, packed 

 in this rough-and-ready fashion, without serious 

 bruising or loss. In fact, the Xewtown Pippins 

 in Covent Garden are as fresh and free from bruises 

 after crossing the Atlantic as are our Ribstons and 

 Orange Pippins that have travelled but a few miles. 

 The great evil of most buffers for Apples and other 

 fruit arises, as it were, out of their merits, that is, 

 their softness and elasticity. During the strain of a 

 rough or long journey, they give way, the fi'uits 

 thus have room to move, and hence the bruisrug. 



Fortunately Apples, in sound condition, may be laid 

 sufficiently close together to prevent their movement 

 without injuriously bruising each other, especially 

 if carefully placed in peck or bushel baskets, boxes, 

 or, better than either, barrels. 



Another great evil from the use of buffers for 

 packing Apples or other fruit arises from the flavour 

 they impart to the' fruit, and which is seldom whoUy 

 got rid of if the Apples remain packed up for any 



length of time. Hence on the whole the success 

 of packing Apples in small baskets, boxes, or barrels, 

 and using nothing between them, if packed sufii- 

 ciently firm to prevent the Apples moving during 

 the journey. The open-topped low bushel baskets, 

 so largely used in Covent Garden and other markets, 

 are also admirably adapted for sending Apples long 

 distances by road or rail. 



The Storing of Apples. — For home use the 

 packing stage is dispensed with, and the fruit is car- 

 ried in open baskets to the place of storage. Any 

 cool, moderately dry room, garret or cellar, where a 

 regular temperature of •45'^ can be maintained in all 

 weathers, is well adapted for the safe storage and 

 long keeping of Apples. If the garret is used, 

 special precautions must be taken against excessive 

 dr}Tiess, and severe alternations of temperature ; if 

 the cellar, it may prove too damp. Xo place, how- 

 ever, proves a better Apple-store than a dry, frost- 

 proof cellar ; a spare bed-room or larder also proves 

 almost equally suitable. In both, however, the 

 strong odour of Apples may prove objectionable. In 

 farm-houses, there are few more suitable places than 

 a granary, fitted with close or latticed shelves along 

 the side or end walls. In orchards or gardens where 

 Apples are gi'own on a large scale, special places will 

 be built or fitted up as fruit-rooms, wholly devoted to 

 these fruits. Sometimes roots and seeds are stored 

 with fruit, but this is objectionable, as fruits are 

 specially sensitive to the giying and taking and long- 

 retention of odours. 



Hence the importance of storing Apples in a place 

 by themselves if possible, and especially away from 

 strong- smelling matters, such as Carrots, Parsnips, 

 Onions, or other roots. One of the worst modes of 

 storing Apples is in a huge heap on the floor, lying 

 on and covered over with straw. They can, however, 

 be kept in many ways, as in drawers, boxes, jars, 

 flower-pots, and other modes. One of the oldest- 

 fashioned and still most successful methods of storing 

 the very late varieties is to place them in jars, put 

 a piece of slate over them, and bury them in the 

 ground a foot or so under the surface, so as to be fi-ee 

 fi'om frost. Packing in dry sawdust, &c., is now 

 generally abolished, as is the use of elastic beds of 

 dry moss or other substances. 



Deal shelves are also objectionable, as the odour 

 of resin goes into the Apples by contact, and also 

 through the odour exhaled. AMiite wood, as it is 

 called, such as Lime, Sycamore, and Poplar, forms 

 the best shelves. And if deal or any other wood is 

 used, it should be painted at least three times, and 

 varnished over; this varnish prevents the taste or 

 odour of paint passing into the Apples, and such 

 shelves in lattice of three or four inch splints, vdth. 



