lem still more difficult. Many of the growers are
beginning to specialize in two or three varieties, such as Wealthy,
Patten, Northwestern and Malinda. Last year some of the growers produced
as many as five carloads. Small fruits are brought in by the wagon load
during the heaviest part of the season, making it possible for the fruit
houses to load a car in a day.

The commercial growers use good, practical methods of culture, keeping
the land well cultivated and using cover crops and mulch; but many of
the small growers of half-way fruit men--those who do not specialize in
fruit growing--neglect their orchards. Most growers properly prune and
thin their trees and bushes, while many are beginning to spray.

In the picking, grading and packing of the fruit is where the great
majority fail. After they have grown the fruit carefully and
successfully, they fail to properly harvest and dispose of it. This
fault lies in the fact that they have specialized in the production of
their product and have given little time or attention to the marketing
of it. They realize, though, that success in fruit growing depends as
largely upon proper marketing as upon proper growing.

The first step in marketing is the picking of the fruit. Fruit, as any
other product, should be picked at a certain time; and the grower who
allows his fruit to remain on the tree or bush too long, as is often
done with the apple, until his work is caught up, is the grower who
receives unsatisfactory prices for his product. Many farmers bring
windfalls and bruised apples mixed with the hand picked ones and expect
as much as the grower who carefully picks his apples. The picking
utensils are also often a cause of injury. Tin pails, wooden buckets and
boxes are used to too great an extent. These naturally bruise more or
less of the apples as they are put into the pails, especially if extreme
care is not used. The pouring of the fruit from one receptacle into
another is still another source of injury.

The small fruit grower usually handles his fruit with greater care than
the apple grower does, for the simple reason that improper handling of
these fruits soon shows itself, and the grower may find that he is
unable to dispose of his fruit. The most common cause of injury to small
fruit is over-ripeness.

[Illustration: P. L. Keene.]

The improper sorting and grading of fruit is another cause of
unprofitable returns. All bruised, wormy or injured apples should