GATHERING AND PACKING. 129 



will only get worse if left on the tree, will benefit the fruit 

 remaining. 



Step-ladders are usually employed in gathering such 

 oranges as can not be reached from the ground, as it is 

 almost impossible to find a secure resting place for an ordi- 

 nary ladder, and besides it is constantly catching on side 

 limbs. Better, however, as well as cheaper than either, is 

 another sort of ladder, which may easily be made by any 

 one out of materials nearly always to be found "lying 

 around loose " on the farm. The steps are made of strips 

 three inches wide, about fourteen long, nailed at proper 

 distances apart, on a plank two inches thick and from six 

 to eight inches wide, the last strip resting on the ground as 



This simple ladder is easily handled and rests securely 

 on a limb where the ordinary ladders would shake back 

 and forth, while the projecting side pieces or steps serve a 

 useful purpose when it is desired to hang the bag or sack 

 of the picker on them. 



This bag, its mouth held open by an oval piece of wire, 

 should not be too deep nor too large ; if the former, the 

 first oranges picked are apt to be bruised in dropping ; if 

 the latter, the bag will interfere with the picker's move- 

 ments, and will become too heavily weighted to be carried 

 with ease, no matter how broad the band that secures it 

 around his shoulders. 



The orange should never be pulled from the stem, as this 

 rude severing almost invariably tears the skin and " plugs" 

 the fruit, which is then unfit to be shipped, since it will 

 surely rot on the way and damage the whole box. 



A sharp knife or small shears are the proper things to 

 use, and the stem should be so clipped that from one 

 eighth to one quarter of an inch remains on the orange 

 until cured, when it will drop off. 



