95 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
PREPARING APPLES FOR MARKET. 
By S. B. Shaw 
Extension Service , Maryland Agricultural College. 
I N discussing the preparation of apples for market, 
there are many features to be considered. An at¬ 
tempt to take up this subject in detail would cover 
too broad a field on an occasion of this kind. It might he 
well, however, to consider more carefully than is com¬ 
mon, some details of this phase of fruit growing. A visit 
to the markets in many of our cities would emphasize the 
importance of greater care in the production of the crop. 
An eminent authority has said: “the business pail, of 
fruit growing is chiefly concerned with the broad sub¬ 
ject of marketing the fruit which may be considered un¬ 
der the four heads of picking, packing, storing and ship¬ 
ping. The actual selling of the product is an enterprise 
which belongs rather to the merchant than to the fruit 
grower.” True as this may be, the relative value of the 
product is more often established by the conditions under 
which it has been produced. No manufacturer would 
consider placing an article on the market without first in¬ 
vestigating carefully every detail connected with its pro¬ 
duction. It is just as much a business proposition for 
the orchardist to grow his crop as it is for him to sell it. 
Each of the many sections of country has, to a certain 
extent, its particular characteristics necessitating a dif¬ 
ferent method for growing and handling fruit for various 
markets. There are, however, some operations con¬ 
nected with this industry which can be carried on in the 
same general way one place as in another. Color, size 
and condition are qualities required in the preparation of 
all fruit for securing and holding a select trade that will 
he profitable. In order to develop these qualities to 
their fullest extent, it is necessary to give more attention 
to certain operations than is common with many orchard- 
ists. One of the most important of these is the method 
of growing the crop. 
Assuming that a suitable location has been selected, the 
land properly prepared and good trees planted, it is ne¬ 
cessary to carry on a thorough system of cultivation. The 
term cultivation, used here in a broad sense, means not 
only the tillage of the soil, but the systematic training of 
the trees and their protection from insects and fungous 
enemies. This work deserves the most careful consid¬ 
eration, for the preparation of all fruit for market really 
begins with its production. Profitable commercial 
fruit growing requires more than simply planting an or¬ 
chard and waiting for it to mature and yield. The suc¬ 
cessful orchardist must exercise intelligent care over his 
fruit at every step, from the selection of his trees to the 
shipping of the ripened fruit. 
Trees grow, develop and mature their fruit in propor¬ 
tion to the amount of available food at their disposal. 
The greater part of this food is in the soil, occurring 
naturally, or supplied by artificial means. It cannot, 
however, be made use of by the trees until rendered 
available. This condition is brought about by the com¬ 
bined action of several agencies, most important of which 
are light, air and moisture. Tillage promotes the work 
of these agencies and, as a result, influences the growth 
of the trees, thereby effecting the development and qual¬ 
ity of the fruit. Trees draw most of their vitality from 
the soil through their roots, thus it stands to reason that 
for the best results the soil must be so treated as to fur¬ 
nish most easily and surely the food elements which the 
growing trees require. Because of such a wide range 
of conditions, the most profitable method of procedure is 
a problem to be solved, more or less, by each individual 
grower. 
Systematically training the growth of trees, is an in¬ 
fluential factor in producing marketable fruit. Apples 
must be of good uniform size and be well colored to sell 
to best advantage. While it is essential to have a nor¬ 
mal amount of leaf growth, it is well to have it so distri¬ 
buted as to avoid any unnecessary shading of the fruit. 
Water sprouts, overhanging limbs and an excess of leaf 
producing wood should be cut out whenever practicable. 
Prune conservatively but well. Apples produce their 
fruit on old wood and it is not advisable to promote an 
excess of new growth unless it be to rejuvenate old trees. 
Exposure to plenty of sunlight and a free circulation of 
air throughout the growing season will go far toward in¬ 
creasing the value of a crop of apples. 
The thinning of fruit may also be regarded as a form 
of training. Repeated demonstration has shown this to 
be a very profitable practice. Thinning not only causes 
the development of much finer fruit, but it is a means of 
conserving the energies and vitality of the trees. Or¬ 
chards that bear heavily one year, do not, as a rule, pro¬ 
duce much fruit the following year. A heavy crop of 
fruit and a large number of fruit buds cannot well be de¬ 
veloped at the same time, consequently many trees per¬ 
form each function in alternate years. In some parts of 
the country systematic thinning has come to be regarded 
as an indispensable element in successful fruit growing. 
It costs but little, if any, more, to thin at the proper sea¬ 
son than it does to pick the same fruit at harvest time. 
The method of doing the work is practically the same in 
both instances. 
Thirty or forty years ago there was little need to fight 
orchard pests, as the injury caused by them was scarcely 
appreciable. At the present time, particularly in older 
sections of the country, insects and fungous diseases of 
various kinds have become so wide spread that the ques¬ 
tion of spraying is now as important as any other part of 
orchard management. Many growers assert that it is 
the most important single operation. This marked 
change, coming in so short a time, and in numerous in¬ 
stances causing serious loss, has naturally been dis¬ 
couraging. As a result many orchardists have been slow 
to adapt themselves to these new conditions. Although 
the combatting of insect and fungous enemies has, with¬ 
out doubt, increased the cost of production, those who 
have persistently used proper means for their control 
have been universally successful in raising good crops of 
