124 THINNING, GATHERING, KEEPING, MARKETING. 



deposited in place. When again unloaded the same care is 

 observed, the barrels being carried off on a hand-barrow. 

 Throughout the whole process the same care is observed as 

 in carrying a looking-glass. 



Various modes are adopted for hand-picking apples and 

 other fruit. Ladders should always be provided for reaching 

 the different parts of the tree. Step-ladders, five or six feet 

 high, may be used for the lower limbs ; longer ladders, resting 

 against the branches, or supported by legs as shown in the 

 chapter on Implements, are employed for higher portions. 

 The remaining scattered fruit may be collected with a fruit- 

 gatherer attached to the end of a pole. These are all figured 

 and described in the chapter on Implements. Baskets are 

 commonly employed furnished with hooks for suspending to 

 the limbs or rounds of the ladder while filling. In picking, 

 apples should be lifted up to break off the stem, instead of 

 pulling them off, as many of the stems will pull out of the 

 apples, causing decay. They should be laid in the basket 

 (instead of being pitched or dropped in) to avoid bruising. 

 A better way is to buckle a strap passing over the shoulder 

 and beneath the arm, to which the basket may be hooked, 

 leaving both hands free for work. These baskets should be 

 round, so as to be small enough to allow turning for empty- 

 ing while in the barrel, that the fruit may fall as short a dis- 

 tance as possible. Another mode is to wear a coat, made for 

 the purpose, of strong canvas, furnished with large pockets 

 on both sides, holding a peck or more each. The coat is 

 slipped off and the pockets emptied into large baskets or bar- 

 rels. A better and more expeditious method is to take a 

 common clean grain-bag and place a stick, sharpened at each 

 end and about a foot long, so as to prop the mouth open, leav- 

 ing a triangular opening, ready for the reception of apples as 

 fast as picked by both hands. Tie the upper and lower corner 

 together, by placing a pebble in the lower corner, so as to 

 form a knob or button, and then tie the bag-strings closely 

 above it. It is then slung over the shoulder, as shown in Fig. 

 183. A piece of stiff leather buttoned on the shoulder serves 

 to protect it from the weight of the bag. When the bag is 

 filled it is placed in the bottom of the barrel or basket, and 

 emptied by carefully withdrawing the bag and allowing the 



