MISCELLANEOUS FARM CONVENIENCES 213 



Picking boxes for apples have bothered orchard men 

 more than any other part of the business. It is so 

 difficult to get help to handle apples without bruising 

 that many inventions have been tried to lessen the dam- 

 age. In western New York a tray with vertical ends 

 and slanting sides has been adopted by grape growers 

 as the most convenient tray for grapes. Apple growers 

 are adopting the same tray. It is made of three- 



Figure 208. Fruit-Picking Tray. It is used for picking grapes 

 and other fruits. The California lug box has vertical sides and is 

 the same size top and bottom. Otherwise the construction is 

 similar. 



eighths-inch lumber cut 30 inches long for the sides, 

 using two strips for each side. The bottom is 30 inches 

 long and three-eighths of an inch thick, made in one 

 piece. The ends are seven-eighths of an inch thick cut 

 to a bevel so the top edge of the end piece is fourteen 

 inches long and the bottom edge is ten inches long. The 

 depth of the end piece is eight inches. Hand cleats 

 are nailed on the outsides of the end pieces so as to pro- 

 ject one-half inch above the top. These cleats not only 

 serve to lift and carry the trays, but when they are 

 loaded on a wagon the bottoms fit in between the cleats 

 to hold them from slipping endways. In piling these 



