340 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
Fig. 13. 
ple, when compared to the orange, having 
led many to doubt if machinery could 
ever be constructed so as to handle the 
apple crop according to the labor saving 
methods employed with the latter fruit. 
The wiping machine is, of course, used 
only where the apples are coated with an 
excess of dust or spray. No more wiping 
should be given an apple than will re- 
move these defacements. Otherwise there 
is danger of removing some of the wax 
with which the apple is coated, and which 
acts as a deterrent toward inoculation 
with decay. A few persons go so far as 
to say that apples to be shipped or stored 
should not be wiped under any circum- 
stance. In this-connection, it is well to 
add that the: consumer should be educated 
to the fact -that spray does not render 
the apple unfit for consumption and that 
a polished apple means a short-lived ap- 
ple. A wiping machine, which can be 
run by hand or motor power, is con- 
structed in the shape of a_ horizontal 
Gilbert Sorting Belt Receiving Trays in Place. 
trough, through which the apples pass on 
a rubber or canvas band, at the same 
time being slapped by short strips of 
cloth. : 
Combination Sorting and Packing Tables 
These are great savers of labor, and, 
unlike the sizing machines, are simple 
enough in construction to be made by the 
average orchardist at home. Two types 
are now manufactured and sold in the 
Northwest. The Sykes table consists of 
a tray upon which the apples are sorted, 
and of various radiating canvas trays 
into which the apples are shoved directly 
by the sorters ready for handling by the 
packers. The use of a belt for carrying 
the apples in front of the sorters and 
for delivering the sorted apples into vari- 
ous packing trays was originated by Mr. 
H. M. Gilbert, North Yakima, Wash., who 
‘has operated it successfully for two years 
at his ranch near North Yakima, Wash. 
Mr. Gilbert’s machine is simple and in- 
