GATHERING AND PACKING. 



95 



as cannot be reached from the ground, as it is almost impossible 

 to find a secure resting place for an ordinary ladder, and besides, 

 it is constantly catching of side limbs. 



Better, however, as well as cheaper than either, is another 

 sort of ladder, which may easily be made by any one, out of 

 materials nearly always to be found " lying around loose " 

 on the farm. The steps are made of strips three inches wide 

 about fourteen long, nailed at proper distances apart, on a plank 

 two inches thick and from six to eight inches wide. 



This simple ladder is easily handled and rests securely on a 

 limb, where the ordinary ladders would shake back and forth, 

 while the projecting side-pieces, or steps, serve a useful purpose, 

 when it is desired, to hang the bag or sack of the picker on 

 them. 



This bag, its mouth held open by an oval piece of wire, 

 should not be too deep, nor too large ; if the former, the first 

 oranges picked are apt to be bruised in dropping ; if the latter, 

 the bag will interfere with the picker's movements, and will 

 become too heavily weighted to be carried with easfe, no matter 

 how broad the band that secures it around his shoulders. 



The orange should never, as is too often done, be pulled 

 from the stem, as this rude severing almost invariably tears the 

 skin and " plugs " the fruit, which is then unfit to be shipped, 

 since it will surely rot on the way and damage the whole box. 



A sharp knife, or small shears, are the proper things to use, 

 and the stem should be so clipped that from one-eighth to one 

 quarter of an inch remains on the orange. 



If the oranges are of different varieties each kind should be 

 carefully kept by itself. 



As soon as a cart load has been picked they should be 

 hauled away to the packing-house, and if this is any distance 

 from the grove, or if the road, though short, is rough, moss 

 should be placed at the top and sides of the cart to avoid bruising 

 the fruit, for the orange, when just " under ripe," as it usually is, 

 and should be when picked, is plump and solid; the skin is 

 composed largely of water, and if its tiny cells are bruised and 

 broken, decay at once sets in. 



