HARVESTING THE CROP 



211 



usually done by boys at a cost of about twelve cents 

 per bushel. An orchard five years of age should 

 yield about three bushels per acre every day during 

 summer. Fruit should not be dumped into bushel 

 measures, but weighed in shallow trays when neces- 

 sary to estimate the quantity. Picking should be 

 done by carefully raising the fruit up from its pend- 

 ant position on branches, the stems easily snapping 

 in two ; pulling it off causes unnecessary bruising. 

 If a picker works more than an hour or two a day 

 he should wear loose cloth gloves for the "fuzz'' 

 on leaves and stems, and upon green fruit, is very 

 irritating to the skin, and as the milky juice contin- 

 ually drops it spreads while at work, causing sensa- 

 tions resembling the bites of a nest of good sized 

 ants. 



