14 



APPLE. 



and out of wagons ; they are rolled along upon the pave- 

 ments ; they are put into the hold, or between the decks ; 

 and is it any v/onder, that a barrel of pomace^ instead of 

 apples^ arrives at Liverpool or London ! If, instead of this 

 careless work, tlie apples v/ere gathered, [a week before ripe ;) 

 not bruised at all in the gathering ; laid in the sun on 

 boards or cloths three days to let the watery particles evap- 

 orate a little ; put into barrels with fine cut straw-chafF^ in 

 such a way as that no apple touched another ; carefully 

 carried to the ship, and put on board, and as carefully landed ; ' 

 if this were the mode, one barrel, though it would contain 

 only half the quantity, v/ould sell for as much as, upon an -j 

 average, taking in loss by total destruction, twenty barrels 

 sell for now. On the deck is the best part of the ship for 

 apples ; but, if managed as I have directed, between decks 

 v/ould do very well. In the keeping of apples for market 

 or for house use, the same precautions ought to be observed 

 as in gathering and laying out to dry ; and, perhaps, to pack 

 in the same way, also, is the best mode that can be dis- 

 covered. 



" Dried apples is an article of great and general use. 

 Every body knows that the apples are peeled, cut into 

 about eight pieces, the core taken out, and the pieces put 

 m the sun till they become dry and tough. They are then 

 put by in bags or boxes in a dry place. But the flesh of 

 the apple does not change its nature in the drying ; and, 

 therefore, the finest, and not the coarsest apples should have 

 all this trouble bestowed upon them." 



The following valuable observations, contained in a letter 

 from Noah Webster, Esq. have been published in the Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural Repository : — 



It is the practice with some persons to pick apples in 

 October, and first spread them on the floor of an upper 

 room. This practice is said to render apples more durable, 

 by drying them. But I can affirm this to be a mistake. 

 Apples, after remaining on the trees as long as safety from 

 the frost will admit, should be taken directly from the trees 

 to close casks, and kept dry and cool as possible. If suf- 

 fered to lie on a floor for weeks, they wither and lose their 

 flavour, without acquiring any additional durability. The 

 best mode of preserving apples for spring use, I have found 

 to be, the putting them in dry sand as soon as picked. For 



