HARVESTING AND STORING
Apples are practically never allowed to ripen on the trees but are
picked and shipped green. By "green" we mean not fully ripe, not ripe
enough to eat out of hand. This is necessary for all fruit which is to
be shipped any considerable distance or which is to be stored. Used in
this sense green has no reference to color, but as a matter of fact,
much of our fruit is picked too green, before it has even reached its
full size and is well colored. There is no exact time at which apples
must be picked, but this depends on many factors such as the variety,
the distance to be shipped, the soil, the climate, and various other
conditions, to say nothing of seasonal differences.
The time at which any variety should be picked in a particular section
will be learned by experience. In general, apples should be left on
the tree as long as possible in order to get the best size and color.
When the apples begin to drop badly it is a pretty sure indication
that it is time to pick. If the fruit is to be sold in the local
market or for immediate consumption, it may be allowed to get riper
than would otherwise be the case. With most varieties one picking is
sufficient, but in the case of varieties like the Wealthy which does
not ripen uniformly, or like the Twenty Ounce, which does not always
color evenly, two or three pickings should be made. Two or three
pickings are practically always necessary where fancy fruit is
desired, in order to get the ideal size, color, and uniformity.
LADDERS.--There are two general types of picking ladders, the rung and
the step ladders. For large trees the rung ladders are the best. They
may be obtained in lengths to suit the height of the tree. Lengths of
more than twenty-two or twenty-four feet become too heavy and clumsy
to handle, even when made of pine, which is the best material as it is
light and strong for its weight. In very old, high trees extension
rung ladders are sometimes used. They are also useful for interior
work but are heavy to handle. Rung ladders cost from ten to twenty
cents a running foot. Step ladders are useful only on young and small
trees. The two styles, the three (Japanese) and four legged, are both
quite satisfactory where one can reach the fruit from them.
Receptacles for picking usually hold about half a bushel. Both baskets
and bags are used, some preferring one and some the other, and a
choice between them is merely a matter of personal preference. There
is a little less liability of bruising the apples in bags than in
baskets, but the latter are more convenient in some ways. Fruit should
never be thrown or dropped into a basket but always handled carefully.
Some varieties, as McIntosh, show almost every finger mark and
literally require handling with gloves.
HANDLING.--The old custom of picking and laying on the ground in the
orchard is a poor one and should not be followed, as it causes
unnecessary handling and bruising. Moreover, fruit should be packed
and hauled to storage as soon after picking as possible. Picking and
placing directly on the packing table from which the apples are
immediately packed is the best plan where it is practicable, but as
the weather at picking time in the Eastern States is frequently quite
uncertain, it is not always possible to follow this plan as closely as
can be done in the West, where dry air and sunshine prevail. Still,
wherever there is a considerable quantity of fruit and several
pickers, the plan of packing directly from the table is best. Many
growers pick in boxes and barrels and haul the apples to a packing
shed to be packed later. Convenience and expediency must govern the
general farmer who is not always at liberty to choose the best plan,
often having to do as he can.
PACKING TABLES enable the grower to pack his fruit better because he
can see better what he is doing, and to handle the fruit more cheaply
and quickly and with less injury. They should be portable so that they
can be moved about the orchard. A convenient type has one end mounted
on wheels so that it can be pushed from one place to another. The top
of the table should be made of two strong layers of canvas, one tacked
firmly to the framework of the table with about three or four inches
of dip and the other laid loosely over it. This plan provides a soft
resting place for the fruit and the table can be easily cleaned off by
simply throwing back the upper layer of canvas.
Three feet six inches is about the right width for the table, and the
same sloping to three feet four inches at one end, is the correct
height from the ground. Most packers like to have this gradual slope
to one end so that the apples will naturally feed toward that end. The
length may be anything up to eight or ten feet, beyond which the table
becomes heavy and unmanageable.
BARRELS.--The standard apple barrel adopted by the National Apple
Shippers' Association and made law in New York State has a length of
stave of twenty-eight and one-half inches and a diameter of head of
seventeen and one-eighth inches. The outside circumference of the
bilge is sixty-four inches and the distance between the heads is
twenty-six inches. It contains one hundred quarts dry measure. The
staves are mostly made of elm, pine, and red gum, and the heads
principally of pine with some beech and maple. In most apple growing
sections barrels are made in regular cooper shops where their
manufacture is a business by itself. Only the largest growers set up
their own barrels. Practically all barrels are purchased "knocked
down" and it costs from four to six cents each to set them up. Barrels
can ordinarily be purchased for about thirty-five cents each, but the
cost varies somewhat with the season and the region.
Apple packages should always present a neat, clean, and attractive
appearance. Never use flour barrels, soiled or ununiform barrels of
any kind. If a head cushion is used a good deal of waste from the
crushing and bruising of the fruit will be saved. A head lining of
plain or fringed paper also adds much to the attractiveness of the
package. The wrapping of apples for barrel packing is hardly
advisable. The fruit is pressed into the barrel tightly with one of
two types of presses, both of which are good.
The lever press is more responsive and the pressure is more easily
changed, but it is harder to operate. The screw press distributes the
pressure more evenly with less injury to the fruit and is more
powerful.
The steps in properly packing a barrel of apples are: First, see that
the middle and closed end hoops are tight, if necessary, nailing them
and clinching the nails; second, mark the head plainly with the grade
and variety and the name of the packer or owner; then place the barrel
on a solid floor or plank and lay in the facing papers (the face end
being packed first); select the "facers," which should be the best
representatives of the grade being packed, and _no others_, and place
them in two courses in regular order stems down; with a drop handle
basket fill the barrel, using care not to bruise the fruit, and
jarring the barrel back and forth on the plank as each basket is put
into it in order to settle the fruit firmly in place; lastly, arrange
a layer of apples stems up and apply the press, using a hatchet to get
the head in place and to drive on and tighten the hoops.
THE BOX PACKAGE is rapidly growing in favor, especially as a carrier
of fancy fruit. There is no standard box the size of which is fixed by
law unless it be a box labeled a bushel. But two sizes of boxes are in
common use, both probably being necessary on account of the variation
in the size of different varieties. The "Standard" box is 101/2 by 111/2
by 18 inches inside measurement and contains 2,173.5 cubic inches (the
lawful stricken bushel is 2,150.4 cubic inches). The "Special" box is
10 by 11 by 20 inches inside measurement and contains 2,200 cubic
inches. The bulge when properly made will add about 150 cubic inches
more, making the two boxes hold 2,323.5 cubic inches and 2,350 cubic
inches respectively.
Spruce is the most reliable and in general the best material. Fir is
sometimes used, but is likely to split. Pine is good if strong enough.
The ends should be of three-quarter-inch material; the sides of
three-eighth-inch, and the tops and bottoms--two pieces each--of
one-quarter-inch material. There should also be two cleats each for
top and bottom. The sides of the box should be nailed with four,
preferably five-penny cement-coated nails, at each end. The cleats
should be put neatly on each end and four nails put into them, going
through into the top and bottom. Boxes commonly come "knocked down" or
in the flat and are usually put together by the grower. They cost from
ten to thirteen cents each in the flat.
There are several kinds of packs, depending on the size of the apples
and the choice of the grower. The diagonal pack with each apple
resting over the spaces between others is preferable, but on account
of the size of the apples one is often forced to use the straight pack
with the apples in regular right angle rows for some sizes. The offset
pack, first three (or four) on one side and then on the other, is
very much like the diagonal, but not much used on account of its
accommodating too few apples in a box. The following table gives the
packs, number of rows, number of apples in the row, box to use, and
number of apples used to the box, as used at Hood River, Oregon:
No.
Size expressed apples No.
in No. apples in layers in Box
per box Tier Pack row depth used
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45 3 3 St. 5-5 3 Standard
54 3 3 St. 6-6 3 Special
63 3 3 St. 7-7 3 Special
64 31/2 2-2 Diag. 4-4 4 Standard
72 31/2 2-2 Diag. 4-5 4 Standard
80 31/2 2-2 Diag. 5-5 4 Standard
88 31/2 2-2 Diag. 5-6 4 Standard
96 31/2 2-2 Diag. 6-6 4 Special
104 31/2 2-2 Diag. 6-7 4 Special
112 31/2 2-2 Diag. 7-7 4 Special
120 31/2 2-2 Diag. 7-8 4 Special
128 4 4 St. 8-8 4 Special
144 4 4 St. 9-9 4 Special
150 41/2 3-2 Diag. 6-6 5 Standard
163 41/2 3-2 Diag. 6-7 5 Standard
175 41/2 3-2 Diag. 7-7 5 Standard
185 41/4 3-2 Diag. 7-8 5 Special
200 41/2 3-2 Diag. 8-8 5 Special
It is good practice to wrap apples packed in boxes. For this purpose a
heavy-weight tissue paper in two sizes, 8 by 10 and 10 by 10,
according to the size of the apple, is used. A lining paper 18 by 24
in size and "white news" in grade is first placed in the box. Between
the layers of apples a colored "tagboard" paper, size 171/4 by 11 or 20
by 93/4, according to the box used, is laid so as to make the layers
come out right at the top. In packing the box is inclined toward the
packer for convenience in placing the fruit. After laying in the
lining paper each apple is wrapped and put in place. As an aid to
picking up the thin wrapping paper a rubber "finger" is used on the
forefinger. When the box is packed the layers should stand a quarter
to a half inch higher in the middle than at the ends, in order to give
a bulge or spring to the top and bottom which holds the fruit firmly
in place without bruising.
There has been much discussion as to whether the box or the barrel is
the better package for apples. This is needless, for as a matter of
fact each is best for its own particular purpose. The barrel is best
adapted as a package for large commercial quantities of fruit and
where labor could not be had to pack apples in boxes even if the trade
wanted them. The barrel permits the packing of a greater variety in
size and shape than does the box, and these can be more easily and
cheaply handled in packing.
On the other hand, the box is the ideal package for small amounts of
fancy fruit, to be used for a family-or fruit-stand trade. It presents
a neater and more fancy appearance and is a more convenient package to
handle, as well as one which is more open to inspection. It already
has a better reputation as a quality container than the barrel. As a
fancy package for a limited private trade from the small general farm
orchard with high-class varieties like the Northern Spy, McIntosh, and
others there is no comparison of the box with the barrel.
STORAGE.--Car refrigeration and cold storage of fruit are
comparatively modern developments. Few persons who have not been
affected directly realize what a tremendous influence they have had
upon the fruit, and particularly the apple industry. Apples could not
be shipped any very great distance. Crops had to be marketed
immediately and when they were large the markets were soon glutted and
the fruit became almost valueless. The first hot spell would
demoralize the trade altogether. Then later in the season the supply
would become exhausted and famine would ensue where but a few weeks
before there had been a feast. Under such conditions it is not
surprising that the apple industry did not develop very rapidly and
that apple growing was mostly confined to areas near the larger
markets.
The coming of the refrigerator car extended fruit-growing over a much
wider area. Refrigeration on shipboard opened up and enlarged the
export trade. Cold storage warehouses lengthened the season by holding
over the surplus of fruit, thus relieving fall gluts in the market and
providing a winter supply of apples. These conditions created a more
stable market with more uniform prices, extending the business from a
side issue to one of chief importance. Marketing has become almost a
business by itself, inducing the formation of growers' associations
and creating a profitable occupation for large dealers and commission
men. These conditions, too, have led to speculation.
Two kinds of storage are used, common or cellar storage and cold
storage. Both are about equally available, but the latter is too
expensive for the small grower. There is always a question as to the
advisability of the small grower storing his fruit. Storage means a
degree of speculation. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,"
especially when the bird is a good one. So far as rules can be laid
down, the following are pretty safe ones to keep in mind: It is safest
to store apples when they are of the highest quality; in a season most
unfavorable to common storage; when the fewest are being stored; when
the price in the fall is medium to low, never when high; and when one
can afford to lose the whole crop.
Successful storage requires several things: good fruit, stored
immediately after picking, careful sorting and handling, subsequent
rest, and a reasonable control of the temperature. The functions of
storage are to arrest ripening, retard the development of disease, and
furnish a uniform, cold temperature. Storage of apples does not remedy
over-ripeness nor prevent deterioration of already diseased, bruised,
or partly rotted fruit. There are three general methods of storage:
(1) by ventilation, (2) by the use of ice and (3) by mechanical means.
Cooling by ventilation offers the most practical system for a farm
storage. It requires that there be perfect insulation against outside
temperature changes, adequate ventilation, and careful watching of
temperatures. To provide for good insulation a dead air space is
necessary. This can be secured by a course of good two-inch boards
with one or two layers of building paper inside and out, over a
framework of two-by-fours. Over the building paper tight, well matched
siding should be laid also inside and out. Two of the dead air spaces
will make insulation doubly sure.
To provide for proper ventilation construct an intake for cold air at
the bottom, and an outlet for warm air at the top of the room. These
should serve all parts of the room, one being necessary for this
purpose every twelve to sixteen feet. Do not depend too much on
windows. Warm-air flues should be twelve inches square and six to
twelve feet long.
The attention to such a house is most important. Keep it closed
tightly early in the fall with blinded windows. When nights get cool
open the doors and windows to let in cold air, closing them again
during the day. On hot days close the ventilators also. In this way a
temperature of 36 to 40 degrees Fahr. can be secured in early fall and
one of 32 to 33 degrees Fahr. later. This is probably the cheapest as
well as the most practical method of farm storage.
Ice storage is quite practical in the North, but more expensive. The
principle of such a storage is to keep ice above the fruit, allowing
the cold air to flow down the sides of the room. A shaft in the middle
of the room will serve to remove the warm air. This method is open to
the objection of difficulty in storing the ice above the fruit.
Moreover the uniformity of its cold air supply is questionable.
Mechanical storage in which cold temperatures are secured by the
compression or absorption of gases is altogether impracticable for
individual growers, as it costs from $1.50 to $2.00 a barrel of
capacity to construct such a storage. Rents of this kind of storage
range from 10 to 25 cents a barrel per month, or 25 to 50 cents a
barrel for the season of from four to six months.