Pears should be gathered before being fully ripe. All of them are Improved when ripened in the house, and many of our best sorts may be ripened to insipidity by hanging too long on the tree. Fruit that is to be kept for months must be very carefully handled; the slightest bruise favors early decay. A good criterion is to gather just as the seeds change to a brown color, which is easily ascertained.

Gathering Fruit #1

The appearance and value of fruit depend very much upon when and how it is gathered. Strawberries, if picked carefully with half or quarter of an inch of the stem attached to each berry, and laid carefully into the basket, will carry better and sell for a greater price than when pulled hap - hazard, some with hulls and stems on and some with them off. Again, if they are gathered when they are perfectly dry, they will keep longer and retain a better flavor than if gathered while wet. A little water not only hastens decay, but it rapidly destroys the flavor of many delicate, soft varieties. After being gathered, they should never be allowed to stand out exposed to the sun, as with many varieties it takes but a little while of exposure to hot, clear sun to destroy their brightness of color.

Currants should also be gathered with their stems; they should also be dry, and all leaves thrown out. Gooseberries, if for shipment, should be gathered dry, and a careful expulsion of all leaves will cause them always to command the best price. Like the strawberries, care should always be taken not to expose them to a hot sun after gathering, for such exposure soon gives them the appearance of being half cooked.

Raspberries and blackberries are too often seen in market and on the table half broken and mashed. Nohe but whole and perfect berries should ever go into the box or basket for market. It pays to carefully assort them before sending to market, for the mingling of a few bruised or mashed berries induces decay and detracts from their value in the judgment of the dealer.

Cherries should never be gathered when otherwise than perfectly dry. We have known them to decay entirely in twenty-four hours when gathered while wet. It pays also with cherries for market to carefully sort them over on a table, picking out any mashed or wormy or imperfect fruit before sending to market. Of course the stems are, or always should be, attached, although we have occasionally seen them in market looking more like round cranberries than cherries.

Peaches should be left on the tree until fully ripe, and then gathered carefully with thumb and finger, and at once laid into the basket or box in which they are to be marketed. If the bloom is rubbed off the peach by rough handling, its beauty of appearance is injured, and it will decay much sooner than if untouched. Formerly it was supposed that the peach must be gathered before fully ripe in order to ship it any distance; but practical experience has proven that ripe fruit, not quite soft, will carry just as well as unripe, and command a much better price.

Pears and apples should never be picked from the tree by breaking the stems. Unless the stem will separate freely from the tree, the fruit is not ripe; it will neither eat or cook good, and is only fit for those who want a touch of cholera morbus. Apples as soon as gathered may be sent direct to market; but nearly every variety of pear is improved in appearance and quality by keeping in close, dark drawers, wrapped in flannel or soft paper, or packed in bran a few days.

For profit, and in order to obtain the highest price, all fruit pays to be assorted into two or more grades. A few scattering large berries, apples, or pears in a quart or bushel do not assist in advancing the price; but if carefully packed by themselves will bring the highest price, and often induce the dealer to buy the small fruit in order to get the large.