180 NEBRASKA STATE HOIiTICULTURAT. SOCIirrY. 



are practically over. The market will come to you. But, coming back to 

 the subject, handling apples, I have some ideas of my own. In picking 

 apples, I use the round half-bushel basket, the kind which has no hoop on 

 the Inside. Line the basket with light burlap, covering the top edge of 

 the basket so as to prevent the apples from striking the bare basket. 

 The apples should always be laid in the basket ; letting them fall not only 

 bruises them, but coming in contact with the stems, often breaks the skin 

 which will make a starting place for decay. Even long finger-nails are 

 often injurious in apple picking. It is almost impossible to pick apples 

 with long finger-nails without cutting the skin. A piece of wire, stout 

 enough to hold the basket full of appies, should be used as a hook. This 

 is very simple. By using a double coil around the handle of the basket, 

 and making a hook of the other end, the basket can be hung on the ladder 

 or limb of the tree to suit the convenience of the picker. 



Bushel crates are the handiest thing to use in handling when the 

 apples are to be hauled to the packing plant. In putting the apples from 

 the basket into the crates, tip the crate to one side at an angle of fifty 

 degrees, and lower the basket in the crate with the bottom of the basket 

 on the lower edge of the crate; tip the crate back, at the same time turn 

 the basket over. In this way, there will be no apples bruised in pouring 

 from the basket to the crate, which is often the case; and at the same 

 time, there is no tinie lost, as it is done in a few seconds. 



As for ladders, every fruit-grower has his own ideas about them. I 

 use two styles. One is a three-legged ladder with the third leg fastened 

 at the top with a bolt where the sides of the ladder come to a point, so 

 the third leg works loose and can be used on the hillside, as well as the 

 level, with perfect safety and not interfere with the tree. This ladder can 

 be made of heavy undressed 1x4 lumber, and not over twelve or fourteen 

 feet high. The other is made to come to a point at the top with the sides 

 nailed to a piece of 2x4 extending four feet above the top step of the ladder. 

 This 2x4 should be tapered to a sharp point and dressed smooth so the 

 ladder can be shoved up through the limbs without knocking off the fruit 

 or doing damage to the tree, which is often done in using the old style 

 ladder which is wide at the top. A low truck platform wagon is the thing 

 to haul apples on. I use a low truck wagon with a platform seven feet 

 wide and fourteen feet long with a solid floor made of one inch lumber 

 with a narrow strip one inch thick nailed around the outer edge of the 

 floor to prevent crates from slipping in hauling. In piling the apples ou 

 the ground, use some kind of straw or hay or grass of any kind to pile 

 the apples on. I prefer long heaps instead of piles, as it is much easier to 

 make a long pile than a round one with less damage to the apples in 

 pouring from the crates. The piles should not be more than three feet 

 high and not over six or seven feet wide. The packers like this way of 

 piling, as it gives them ample room on one side to put the culls out of 

 the way while the other side is being used for packing. When you have 

 your apples piled in this way, they are ready for the buyer, and if you 



