36 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS , CONVENTION. 



MR. BERWICK. Regarding fertilizing, what quantity do you use 

 per acre? 



MR. LOWNSDALE. 130 to 160 of the two. 

 MR, BERWICK. Drilled in or broadcast? 

 MR. LOWNSDALE. Broadcast. 



MR. MILLS. Would it not be better not to wash the apples ? 



MR. LOWNSDALE. No; apples should always be washed before 

 going into storage. It is a mistaken idea that an apple will deteriorate if 

 washed. The better you clean an apple the longer it will keep in 

 storage. It is absolutely necessary to remove that dirt, or the luster 

 is gone. Then as soon as the luster is gone, the keeping quality of the 

 apple is gone. The luster depends upon the oils that are secreted. If 

 that moisture is taken care of by proper handling, it will form an oil 

 ' on the surface of the apples which will keep them a long time. It will 

 be impossible to form that oil if the apple is dirty. 



MR. CRANDALL. I wish to ask if this question of washing for the 

 long keeping of apples is not almost contradictory to the general law 

 which we have been observing, that in any way removing the natural 

 bloom from fruit will cause its early deterioration? 



MR. LOWNSDALE. I am not prepared to answer that exactly. As 

 I have hinted in something I said, this is the result of long experience, 

 of many experiments both ways, and I can not say what influence the 

 retention of the bloom on the apples would have in reference to their 

 keeping qualities. I am sure, however, that I am absolutely correct in 

 the statement that apples in our valley will not keep as long if they 

 are not washed as they will if they are washed and put away. That is 

 as far as I care to go. 



MR. MILLS. How long must you handle them to eliminate any 

 decay in the fruit ? 



MR. LOWNSDALE. After they go on to the trays they are never 

 touched until they are packed. 



MR, MILLS. How about the percentage of loss? 



MR. LOWNSDALE. If we pack them about the first of January I 

 would say about five per cent; if they are left until March, about ten 

 to fifteen per cent. Not all will decay, but they will not be marketable 

 apples. We may have to dry a portion of that fifteen per cent, but by 

 the middle of March there would be ten or fifteen per cent. 



MR. MILLS. Is that for the ideal handling which you have described, 

 or is it the general result from the average farm? 



MR. LOWNSDALE. That is the general result. 



THE CHAIRMAN. There is a request from the audience that Mr. 

 Frank Femmons read a short poem which he has on the apple. 



