150 



TJie Canadian Horticnlturist. 



vents it from turning. Such a ladder 

 is convenient in the peach orchard, 

 among very tall trees, where a step- 

 ladder is too short, unless of an un- 

 wieldy size. 



In a recent issue of the Farm and 

 Home, Mr. Niles, of Vermont, gives 

 directions for making a ladder which 

 has the double bars at the lower 

 part and the pole at the top. He 

 says : 



" Cut a spruce pole, or one of 

 some other suitable wood, of the de- 

 sired size and length. Have it as 

 free from knots as possible. Bore 

 holes through it every eighteen 

 inches, and let the holes have a dia- 

 meter of at least an inch and a half. 

 Beginning at the thickest end, split 

 the pole to within two feet of the top 

 with a rip saw. At this point fit a 

 ring around the pole. Now spread the 

 halves apart as the engraving shows 

 (fig. 40.) The ring will prevent the 

 pole from splitting further, and if it 

 be green and tough it will not break. 

 Strong rungs, which have already 

 been prepared, should be inserted and 

 the pole pinned to them. The bot- 

 tom of this ladder should be a trifle 

 wider than the top. The beauty of 

 the contrivance is that it can be in- 

 serted in any part of the tree and 

 will not tip over worse than ordinary 

 ladders. I prefer it at picking time 

 to any step-ladder I ever saw." 



A PACKING HOUSE. 



Among our building plans, that of 

 a suitable house for the fruit grower 

 to store and pack fruit of all kinds 

 has not yet appeared. The growing 

 and shipping of fruit to distant mar- 



kets is a comparatively new busi- 

 ness, and has not yet been furnished 

 with all the best appliances. Most 

 of us in the Niagara Peninsula use 

 our barns and carriage-houses as 

 fruit packing-houses during the fruit 

 season. The writer has a building 

 about 72 X 36, two stories high, all 

 of which he devotes to storage and 

 packing of fruit, and the storage of 

 baskets, barrels, etc. Besides this, 



Fig. 41. — Fruit Packing House. 



temporary sheds are erected outside 

 near the strawberry patches for use 

 in packing time. 



A very neat berry packing-house 

 is shown in the engravipg, copied 

 from the Orchard and Garden, which 

 would be a great convenience in a 

 plantation of small fruits, providing 

 a dry place for the storage of bas- 

 kets and crates, and a cool, airy 

 room for packing and storing the 

 fruit until ready for shipping. Where 

 the plantations are separate from 

 each other on the same farm, a 

 movable house of similar design 

 might be constructed of light lumber 

 on a smaller scale, and having run- 

 ners made of pieces about 3 x 6 in., 

 so as to be drawn about as required 

 from one patch to another. 



