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attached to the fruit. If the apples are torn off the stems, the 

 skin is ruptured and decay is apt to set in. 



The best receptacle in which 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 old grain sacks. A 



Picking Basket, — Oak Sprints, One-half Bdshel, Swinging Bail. 



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 

 down 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. With such varieties 

 picking has to be timed with reference to this bad habit. Fruit 

 must be picked early enough to prevent its falling. Other varieties 

 which hold on well, like Baldwin and Spy, may be picked when 

 they are at their best. There has been a good deal of argument 

 as to just wlien an apple should be picked, but recent experiments 

 show that apples which are ripe and fully colored keep better in 

 storage than those which are picked earlier. 



This matter of having apples fully grown, ripe, and thoroughly 

 colored is of so much importance that some growers who make a 



