Chapter VII 



GATHERING THE CROP, OR PICKING PEACHES. 



The crop having arrived at the point of perfection 

 in growth, its handling now comes to be of the greatest 

 importance, for on the picking of the fruit, taking it 

 neither too hard, or too soft, from the trees, depends in 

 a great measure, the condition in which it will reach the 

 markets, and if this condition be anything but right, 

 serious loss will ensue. 



The trees being rather small, many of the peaches 

 can be picked from the ground, but when they are too 

 high for this method of gathering, the picker pulls down 

 the limb with a hook, made, usually, from a forked stick 

 of some tough wood, one side of the fork being cut off 

 to about four or five inches long, and the other running 

 out six or eight feet, to form the handle. This is used 

 from the ground, or, if necessary, the picker mounts a 

 ladder, or steps, called a peach ladder, and fills his 

 basket, setting it on a shelf prepared for it, on the top 

 part of the ladder. The wood of the peach is brittle 

 and easily split or broken, and pickers ought to be 



