IN THE ORCHARD. 



385 



Extension Ladders for Apple Picking 



A. H. B., GREY COUNTY. 



THE grading of apples properly in pack- 

 - ing, so as to insure uniformity and 

 to guard the interests of the ultimate cus- 

 tomer, the consumer, and the reputation of 

 the grower or packer, is very important, as 

 is the proper packing and conveyance of the 

 fruit to its final destination. There is, how- 

 ever, an earlier question, that of getting the 

 fruit safely, quickly and cheaply from where 

 Nature placed it to the ground level where 

 it is to be graded. 



Great difficulty was formerly found in 

 this, particularly with tall old trees. The 

 best fruit is found at the top of the trees 

 (unhappily it is sometimes so with the bar- 

 rels too), and can only be reached by long 

 ladders, 28, 30 or even 35 feet long. Single 

 piece ladders of such length are incon- 

 venient to take from orchard to orchard, 

 heavy to carry from tree to tree, hard to' 

 erect, requiring two to four men, and im- 

 possible to place in the middle of the tree 

 where the best apples grow. The result is 

 that these best apples are reached with such 

 trouble they either cost their value, are left 

 :on the tree, or shaken down and perhaps 

 ruined. With good extension ladders all 

 these troubles are avoided. The writer has 

 one, and many of his neighbors have been 

 using the Waggoner extension ladders for 

 some time and with great satisfaction. 

 They are made in two sections, which, for 

 carrying, telescope together ; a 28-foot lad- 

 der, for exarrple, shortening down to 14, 

 feet. This enables it to be conveniently 

 carried on a wagon or from tree to tree. 

 When so shortened down it is very easily 

 erected either on the outside of the tree or 

 in the middle. By means of an endless 

 rope it is extended in a few seconds to any 

 desired height. Thus we have a ladder of 

 almost any length. In taking down, the 

 ladder is reduced in two seconds to half its 



length, when it is easily taken down and 

 moved. These ladders have a steel wire 

 set into a groove on the back edge of each 

 side rail and drawn very tight. This en- 

 ables half the weight of timber to be enough 

 and thus the ladders are wonderfully light 

 and easy to handle, a boy of 14 setting up a 

 24-foot ladder with ease. With my laldders 

 I am. confident that I save ten per cent* 

 morfe of the very best fruit and can pick 30 

 per cent, more fruit per day than with the 

 old fashioned ladders. 



The Size of the Apple Barrel 



IN the July Horticulturist several apple 

 growers championed the 30-inch bar- 

 rel, which is the flour and not the apple bar- 

 rel. Not one of these gentlemen, probably, 

 have made any trial of the legal Canadian 

 apple barrel, which is made with the 28-inch 

 staves and holds just 96 imperial quarts, or 

 three bushels, grain measure. 



Most of the owners of extensive apple or- 

 chards about Grimsby, have, for two years 

 past, entirely discarded the flour barrel, and 

 have used the regular apple barrel for all 

 shipments, including thousands of barrels 

 for Great Britain and Germany. The price 

 received for these packages, so far as can 

 be ascertained, was as good as for the flour 

 barrel size, and no complaints were received 

 from the consignee, so that we have con- 

 cluded that the price of the apples in these 

 wholesale markets is made on the apple bar- 

 rel size, and that those shipping the flour 

 barrel size are simply giving away the addi- 

 tional measure. 



As for our coopers, we do not find them 

 making the least complaint. Their busi- 

 ness in the apple section is making apple 

 barrels, and not flour barrels, and they find 

 it just as easy to order 28-inch staves as 

 30-inch. Altogether our experience is en- 

 tirely in favor of the lighter barrel, and we 

 are using no other for 1904. — ^W. 



