PICKING FRUIT 



127 



QUINCES. A quince should be ripe and well 

 colored before it is picked. Green specimens are not 

 very attractive to the average buyer. If necessary, 

 pick the trees several times, at intervals, so as to 

 secure all the fruits in a proper condition. 



FRUIT SPURS. 

 Better bruise your shins than your fruit. 



If possible, pick fruit during the cool of the day ; and avoid 

 picking during extra hot, murky days. 



For home use, let peaches and plums thoroughly mellow 

 and ripen on the trees. But this won't do for fruit which is to 

 be shipped. 



Fruit should be set in the shade 

 or taken to the packing house as soon 

 as picked. Don't let it sun-cook. Get 

 it cool and keep it cool. 



Figs. I and II show two styles of 

 long-handled fruit pickers which are 

 sometimes used for high-up fruit. 

 Fig. II has a canvas chute arrange- 

 ment for letting the fruit down into 

 the picker's hand. 



With either apples or pears, one ^. . 

 picking is usually sufficient to secure 

 _ -~ all the fruit in proper condition. 

 Sometimes, however, it pays to pick 



the larger, more mature specimens first, and then clean up the 

 tree a few days later. 



I,ook to the safety of the fruit ladders. A rotten spot may 

 mean a broken leg or arm. Frequent coats of paint will preserve 

 the soundness of the wood. In this chapter will be found several 

 pictures of different styles of picking ladders. 



Do not handle fruit more than is necessary. The natural 

 bloom should be left on. And endeavor to pick apples, pears, 

 etc., before winds blow many of them off. Pick the outside trees 

 first, as the inside trees in an orchard are more protected from 

 the wind's force. 



Do not squeeze peaches on a tree, to see whether or not they 

 are sufficiently soft to pick. Decay swiftly follows such treat- 

 ment. Expert pickers soon learn the knack of "feeling" of a 



