PICKING FRUIT.—WHEN TO PICK. 57 
stubble, these few apples may be shaken off with little 
danger. Ifa fruit-picker is to be used at all, here is the 
only place where it is necessary, in picking a few stray 
apples which have 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 
