114 HARVESTING, STORING, AND MARKETING 



orchard, or a more pretentious and permanent establishment. 

 There is no time to lose, and the packing arrangements must be 

 adequate for the crop to be handled. 



Picking Equipjiient. Peach trees are headed low. Much of 

 the fruit can be picked from the ground. A short step-ladder 

 will suffice for the remainder. 



Round-stave i^-bushel or %-bushel baskets, padded and 

 with wood or wire handles, are used extensively as picking 

 receptacles. The fruit is carried in them to the packing house. 

 Baskets may be carried under one arm by using a wide strap 

 passing over the shoulder, with large hooks to attach to the 

 basket. This permits use of both hands for picking and avoids 



(Har r i s oil's X ur series) 



Fig. 46. Three common packages for the peach: from left to right, 

 bushel basket, Georgia carrier, Jersey basket. 



the temptation to set the basket on the ground or to attach it 

 to a branch at a distance and drop the fruit into it. The strap 

 may be released easily when the basket is full, and attached to 

 another. 



Drop-bottom baskets, or sacks of canvas stretched on wire 

 frames, are coming into extensive use in some sections. The 

 fruit is emptied from them into field boxes holding one bushel 

 and taken to the packing center. Large pails may be used. 



Under the system of wide planting^ liberal fertilization, and 

 moderate pruning now employed, an average yield of 2i/2 to 

 314 bushels per tree per year may be expected from Elberta. 

 Some varieties exceed these figures. 



