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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



step-ladder with a single back brace, and side braces at the bottom. 

 This can be placed in the branches much better than the common 

 step ladder. 



Sorting table or chute. 



The sorting chute consists of a table about eight feet long, and 

 four feet wide at the upper end and three feet at lower end. The 

 lower end is made narrower still by putting in corner pieces which 

 extend back about one third way on each side, thus leaving a space 

 of only eight or ten inches for the apples to pass through into the 

 barrel. These corner pockets, or bins, can be used to put the facers 

 in while sorting. The sides of chute should be about six inches high 

 all around, except the eight or ten inches at lower end. The chute 

 should be just high enough at the lower, or narrow, end to set a 

 barrel under, the wide end being four to six inches higher, so the 

 apples will roll towards the barrel, the small and poor ones being 

 picked out as they roll along. About three feet of the wide, or up- 

 per, end, where the apples are poured in, should be covered with 

 burlap, with some hay or leaves underneath to prevent brusing the 

 fruit. The center of chute should be made of one inch slats with 

 spaces between them of three-fourths of an inch, to let leaves and 

 dirt fall through. At the lower end should be a piece of heavy tick- 

 ing or ducking, three feet wide and six feet long, to let the apples 

 roll into before dropping into the barrel. This cloth is thrown over 

 the barrel, leaving it slack in the center, and when there is a peck 

 or half bushel of apples on this apron they are let down in the barrel 

 without bruising them. 



When ready to pick, two men with a team and low wagon take 

 a load of empty barrels and distribute them between two rows of 

 trees as thickly as necessary, so the pickers will not have to carry 

 the fruit so far. After the second load of empty barrels they take 



