388 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



GATHERING APPLES. 



The apple harvest is at hand. It may seem that nothing? new can' 

 be said about so commonplace a subject as galhering this staple fruity 

 and yet we sometimes gain by the interchange of ideas upon the 

 simplest matters. We think the custom of many farmers of piling the 

 fruit upon the ground as it is picked, to be assorted and barreled later, 

 is objectionable for two reasons : It exposes the apples unnecessarily 

 to theft, and the work of assorting and putting into barrels must be 

 done in fair weather when time is in demand for other work. We have 

 found it preferable to deposit the fruit in barrels as it is picked, and to- 

 remove it to the fruit room the same day ; here it is comparatively 

 safe from theft, and where it may be assorted and barreled in unfair 

 weather. 



For picking from tall trees, a long, light ladder is almost indispen- 

 sable. It is well to saw a notch in the lower end of the side pieces, in 

 the shape of an inverted letter V. In liffeing the ladder the sharp 

 points will take a firmer hold of the ground than if the end is sawed off 

 at a right angle. For picking, we have found a basket having a bail 

 preferable to one with a rigid handle, as the former is readily turned' 

 over in the bottom of a barrel. We have found it advisable to gather 

 as many of the apples as possible from the ladder before entering the 

 tree. The ladder oifers a better foothold than the branches of the tree,, 

 and a more convenient passage to the ground ; it is also usually less 

 injurious to the branches than are one's shoes, when standing much 

 upon the brances. We have found a fruit picker to be of value only 

 for gathering apples that cannot otherwise be reached. 



For hauling the apples to the fruit room, we have found a simple 

 platform of plank, without side-boards, preferable to the wagon box. 

 for several reasons. The barrels may be set upon the wagon at the 

 front, middle or rear, and the necessity of rolling all forward is avoided,. 

 as the barrels may be extended a trifle beyond the edge of the plat- 

 form ; two may be set abreast, which is not possible when the ordinary 

 wagon box is used. In unloading, it is possible to take ofl" any barrel, 

 without the necessity of removing the others; thus it is easy to avoid 

 mixing the barrels of difierent varieties of apple:-. 



When a rainy day comes, of which we have many at this season, 

 we spread a little soft straw upon the floor of the fruit room, pour out 

 the apples from the barrels and assort them, giving plenty of time to- 

 the work, and doing it thoroughly. — Our Country Home. 



