428 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



[Aug 



GATHERING FRUITS. 



Many sorts of wall and standard fruits will now be ripe, the 

 gathering of which is an important part in the practice of gar- 

 dening, and one to which sufficient attention is seldom paid. 

 It is a common practice to allow most fruits, when ripe, to fall 

 of their own accord ; and, in order to prevent the injury they 

 may sustain, many plans have been adopted, such as covering 

 the borders at the bottom of the walls with moss, or suspending 

 nets and mats for them to fall into. Fruits left upon the trees 

 till sufficiently ripe to fall of their own accord, are much too 

 ripe, and consequently have lost much of their flavor ; besides, 

 however good the precautionary measures may be, still many 

 are so much bruised as to be unfit to keep many days, and 

 often not many hours. It is, therefore, much better to watch 

 their ripening, and carefully to gather them as they arrive at 

 full maturity, and this is to be ascertained by a close acquaint- 

 ance with their natures and sorts. There are certain criteria 

 to be fixed upon, by which we may know, with great nicety, 

 when certain fruits are in a proper state to gather. Most 

 fruits part freely with the tree when ripe, particularly the 

 plum ; they should not be much handled, as the bloom is apt 

 to be rubbed off. Apricots may be accounted ready to gather, 

 when the side next the sun feels a little soft upon gentle pres- 

 sure with the finger. They adhere firmly to the tree, and 

 would remain upon it till over ripe and mealy. Peaches and 

 nectarines, if moved upwards and allowed to descend with a 

 gentle jerk, will separate from the tree, if ripe. Figs are 

 generally ripe when the small end assumes the same color as 

 the larger. Apples and pears begin to fall naturally, when 

 ripe. Another and more easy mode of ascertaining the ripe- 

 ness of fruit, is to move the fruit up level with the foot-stalk, 

 if ripe, it will readily part from the tree. Another criterion is 

 to cut up a fruit of the average ripeness of the crop, and if its 

 seeds have become brown, or blackish, it is ripe ; but if it 

 still remain white, it is not ripe. Much has been said of fruit- 

 gatherers, &c., but the safest mode is to determine the fact of 

 ripeness by some of the above-mentioned criteria. Fruits 



