COMMERCIAL SIDE OF FRUIT GROWING IN UNITED STATES. 155 



that mature Apples keep best if placed in storage immediately after being 

 picked. There should not be the intermediate stage of " sweating " or 

 ripening, which is so frequently advocated. In fact, the longer an apple 

 is subjected to this process the shorter is its life. Large quantities of the 

 poorer grades of Apples are " evaporated." One county in New York State 

 furnishes more than half of the "evaporated" Apple stock in the United 

 States. Great quantities of " chops," cores, trimmings, and apple-peelings 

 are dried and find a ready market in Germany.- It is not unlikely that 

 we receive back a portion of these later, when the by-product has been 

 transformed into attractive jellies or other form of preserve. Remarkably 

 little cider is made in the United States. The manufacture of vinegar 

 has taken its place. The cheap production of lager beer seems to have 



Shipping Grapes in Refrigerator Cars. 



destroyed the market for cider ; or perhaps we do not know how to make 

 an attractive beverage from the Apple. 



Speaking frankly on the matter of packing, we are obliged to admit 

 that our wholesale methods of handling large fruit crops have not been 

 conducive to the evolution of the best and most satisfactory types of 

 grading. Too often the packed product is uneven in quality, through 

 carelessness, and occasionally — perhaps oftener — the little Apples have 

 gravitated to the centre of the package and the big ones have found their 

 way to the top. The Dominion of Canada has acted wisely in passing an 

 Act providing for the inspection of the grading of Apples. In this 

 democratic land such a law suggests tampering with individual and 

 inherent rights too much to find favour with the rank and file of our 

 husbandmen. 



