MISCELLANEOUS FARM CONVENIENCES 217 



of the frame are usually old buggy wheels. A hind 

 axle together with the wheels works about right. The 

 ladder frame is about eight feet high with ladder steps 

 going up from each side. These steps also form the 

 support for the shelves. Picking trays or boxes are 

 placed on the shelves, so the latter will hold eight or 

 ten bushels of apples, and may be wheeled directly to 

 the packing shed if the distance is not too great. 



Step-ladders from six to ten feet long are more con- 

 venient to get up into the middle of the tree than al- 

 most any other kind of ladder. Commercial apple 



Figure 213. Shears. The first pair is used for sheep shearing. 

 The second is intended for cutting grass around the edges of walks 

 and flower beds. 



trees have open tops to admit sunshine. For this rea- 

 son, straight ladders are not much used. It is neces- 

 sary to have ladders built so they will support them- 

 selves. Sometimes only one leg is used in front of a 

 step-ladder and sometimes ladders are wide at the bot- 

 tom and taper to a point at the top. The kind of lad- 

 der to use depends upon the size of the trees and the 

 manner in which they have been pruned. Usually it 

 is better to have several kinds of ladders of different 

 sizes, and lengths. Pickers then have no occasion to 

 wait for each other. 



FEEDING BACKS 



Special racks for the feeding of alfalfa hay to hogs 

 are built with slatted sides hinged at the top so they 

 will swing in when the hogs crowd their noses through 



