No. 4.] 



APPLES. 



387 



seriously, with the sales of good, hand-picked fruit. Apples 

 must be hand-picked from the trees in order to be market- 

 able, — this is the only way. Moreover, they must be 

 carefully hand-picked, and they should be taken off with the 

 stems attached to the fruit. If the apples are torn oif the 

 stems, the skin is ruptured, and decay is apt to set in. 



The best receptacle in Avhich to pick apples is the oak 

 splint, swinging bale, half-bushel basket. If fancy fruit is 

 to be handled, it is worth while to pad these baskets with 



Ticking Basket, — Oak Splints, One-half Bushel, Swinging Bale. 



old grain sacks. A heavy wire, bent in the form of the 

 letter S, enables the picker to hang the basket on a limb 

 while it is being filled, and also to let it doAvn by a strap out 

 of the tree. 



Picking ladders are usually needed on old trees. These 

 should be long, and as light as possible. Step-ladders are 

 sometimes used ; they should always be of the three-legged 

 variety. 



Certain varieties of apples, as, for example^ Wealthy, 

 have the bad habit of falling early from the trees. AYith 



