GATHERING AND MARKETING. 79 



borne too high to reach, a common step-ladder will be 

 found convenient. A cheap and convenient step-ladder 

 may be made out of two pine boards, six inches wide and 

 one inch thick, for sides. The steps should be of the 

 same width, and mortised into them, with a wider board 

 for the top. The bottom should be wide enough to 

 stand firmly, and the top only wide enough for standing 

 room, with a basket for the fruit. 



The stave basket, being smooth inside, and therefore 

 less liable to bruise the fruit, is preferred to the old 

 splint or chip basket. The size used to be for five half 



Fig. 53. A CHEAP STEP-L ADDER. Fig. 54. STAVE BASKET. 



pecks, but now it is generally for four. The old standard 

 crate for shipping fruit was eight inches wide, fourteen 

 deep, and twenty-three and a half long, outside measure. 

 The ends and partition were cut from three-quarter inch 

 pine, seven and a half wide by fourteen inches long. 

 The bottom and top were six and a half wide, and three- 

 eighths of an inch thick. The sides were of four slats of 

 the same thickness, and^two and a half inches wide. The 

 whole crate consisted of thirteen pieces, often with a 

 planed end for marking. These proportions are varied, 

 some being wider and shorter, or narrower and deeper, 



