PICKING FRUIT.— WHEN TO PICK. 5'? 



stubble, these few apples may be shaken off with little 

 danger. If a fruit-picker is to be used at all, here is the 

 only place where it is necessary, in picking a few stray 

 apples wliich liave escaped reach or notice. For this 

 purpose a cheap and simple picker can be made by bend- 

 ing a stiff wire into the form of a circle six inches in 

 diameter, with one side of the circle prolonged three 

 inches into a V-shaped projection. Upon this wire sew 

 a cloth bag a foot or so deep, and fasten it to a pole by 

 the end opposite the V-shaped extremity. This V-shaped 

 projection will serve as a corner in which to catch the 

 apple and pull it off, allowing it to fall into the bag. An 

 excellent picker, as represented in figure 11, can be made 

 from stiff wire by a tinner. The span across the top 

 should be about six inches, and the depth from eight to 

 ten inches. The wires should not be more than a half 

 inch apart at their tips. The wires being more or less 

 flexible, the apple is apt to draw through them if they 

 are not close together. Care should also be taken to 

 have the implement made as light as possible. A bung- 

 ling mechanic will probably use too much solder. An- 

 other good picker is pictured in figure 12. It is pat- 

 ented. This implement is light, durable and pleasant to 

 handle. When an apple lies close to a limb, however, it 

 is much more easily removed by the former device than 

 by this. A simple flattened hook with a thin, almost 

 cutting edge, secured on the end of a pole (figure 13) is 

 often handy for pulling off stray apples. This is the best 

 implement with which I am acquainted for thinning 

 apples. One of the most successful orchardists I know 

 makes two or three tours of his orchard every week in 



