92 Fruitgrowing under Irrigation 



vary according to the height it is intended to have 

 the top tier of the rack, which for practical purposes 

 should not be higher than the height of a man, or 

 about 6 feet. 



The bottom tier should be from 16 inches to 18 

 inches from the ground, and the various tiers the 

 same distance from each other. A rack of four tiers 

 would thus have its top tier from 5 feet 4 inches to 

 6 feet from the ground. 



At the heights it is intended to have the various 

 tiers, pieces of straight sawn timber are mortised 

 into the posts opposite each other, being thus placed 

 at right angles to the length of the row, and the tops 

 of the posts have likewise pieces of timber mortised 

 into them running parallel with the length of the 

 rack, so that the posts may not shift when the rack 

 is laden with fruit. 



At the height of the tiers stout pieces of sawn 

 hardwood, 3 inches x 3 inches to 4 inches x 4 inches 

 in thickness, and stretching across the breadth of 

 the rack, are lightly let into both outside sets of 

 posts. Into these cross-pieces holes are bored, and 

 wires stretched across to each other in such manner 

 as to rest on top of the cross-pieces connecting each 

 set of posts. 



Wire-netting of 2 inch mesh is' then stretched 

 along each tier on top of the wires and fastened to 

 them by means of tie-wire. Racks are usually sup- 

 plied with covers, either of the movable type con- 

 sisting of canvas, duck or hessian, or with a per- 

 manent roof made of galvanized iron. 



Picking. The fruit should be quite ripe before 

 it is picked, as otherwise there will be a big loss in 

 weight of the dried product. From a labour-saving 

 point of view it is the most economical to pick 

 direct into perforated dipping tins, and to cut up 

 the larger bunches as they are being picked. If 



