374 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



durable, so that they may be used year after year; this is 

 especially true of the baskets and crates used for the 

 picking of the heavier fruits, as pears, apples and grapes. 

 It is usually advisable to take the fruits to the packing- 

 house in the very baskets or boxes in which they are 

 placed from the tree, thereby avoiding unnecessary hand- 

 ling of the fruit. In the case of winter apples, however, 

 it is sometimes admissible carefully to pour the apples from 

 the round-bottomed baskets, into which they are picked, 

 into bushel baskets, or sometimes into crates such as are 

 used for potatoes. In any case it is always advisable, in 

 the best quality of fruit, to have all these baskets or crates 

 lined with burlap or padded. 



The best wagons for use in orchards are those of the 

 platform style, with low and very broad-tired wheels, and 

 the platform extending over the wheels. Such wagons are 

 not only capable of carrying a very large load, but do not 

 cut up the ground; they are easily drawn and managed, 

 and they escape the limbs in low orchards. It is desirable 

 that the front wheels move under the platform, in order 

 that the wagon may be turned at sharp angles. The prac- 

 tice of loading apples and other fruits into a wagon box 

 in bulk cannot be too strongly deprecated. It is admissible 

 only when the apples are of low quality, and are fit for 

 sale as second and third grades, or for manufacture into 

 cider, evaporated stock or other products. 



Ladders for picking. 



The styles of ladders to be used must depend directly 

 on the height of the trees. In old apple orchards, it is 

 necessary to have long and light ladders, with a sharp or 

 peaked top, which can be run directly up into the top of 

 the tree and find lodgment against the branches, Exten- 



