378 



The Principles of Fruiting-gr owing 



cranberry measure; 11, 12, 13, forms of wire-pickers. 

 There are many other forms. 



It is never practicable to use picking implements for 

 the gathering of the entire crop, except in those very rare 

 cases ia which the crop is small and all the fruits are fit 

 for the dessert trade. The labor of picking with these 

 devices is slow and onerous. One of the best types of 

 fruit-pickers is shown at 5 in Fig. 143 which may be 

 made by any handy man. The fruits are hooked off by the 

 V-shaped trigger at the top, and are delivered to the picker 

 through the canvas or burlap bag that extends along 

 the handle. Of course, only one fruit should be allowed 

 to go through the bag at a time. Another very handy 

 device is the finger-picker, illustrated at 13. This may be 

 made by any handy tinsmith, who, however, should be 

 cautioned against making it too heavy and cumbersome. 

 In this instance, the apple is delivered to the picker by 

 takiag down the instrument. The disadvantage of this 

 tool is that the fingers are likely to spring with use, and 

 the apple will pull through between them rather than be 

 pulled off. There are also devices in use for catching the 



fruit when it is shaken 

 from the tree or bush. 

 These are usually on 

 the principle of a soft 

 cloth hopper (see Fig. 

 144). Such machines 

 are often very useful in 

 the gathering of black 

 currants and goose- 

 berries. For these pur- 

 poses, inverted um- 

 FiG. 144. Cook'8 apple-picker. brcUas are sometimes 



