CONFERENCE ON FRUIT GROWING. 



17 



Saxony, and, by alternating rows of white and green chip, a very attractive 

 appearance is presented. 



Mulberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries require still greater 

 care in gathering than Strawberries, as they are far more perishable. 

 They can only be transported short distances, and the same forms of 

 baskets and cases are used as for Strawberries. 



Gooseberries should be gathered two days before they are quite ripe, 

 otherwise they become mealy. Currants should be allowed to become as 

 ripe as possible, so as to assist the natural sugar of the fruit in counter- 

 acting their acidity. These two kinds of fruit are despatched in baskets 

 of smaller dimensions and require but little care, as neither kind pays 

 for despatch over a long distance on account of their low values, so they 

 are usually sent to the nearest market. They are, moreover, sufficiently 

 firm to be transported without any special precautions. 



A few words on the all-important subject of ladders will apply to 

 gathering the fruits of other trees. In the Tyrol, a ladder is used which 

 consists of a single shaft through which the rungs pass. This form of 

 ladder is provided with two feet to prevent it sinking into the ground ; in 

 some cases the shaft is long and the top portion, without rungs, rests against 

 the boughs of the tree, and in other instances two pointed poles are fastened 

 to the main shaft just above the top of the rungs, which form supports. In 

 Wiirtemberg they use an ordinary ladder with spiked heels, and supported 

 by two spiked poles. By using this form of ladder a higher point can be 

 reached, but it requires the services of three men to erect it, which is not 

 the case with the Tyrolean. In Werder, near Potsdam, the top rung of an 

 ordinary ladder is made very wide and strong, and the head of a prop- pole is 

 passed through a hole in it, which is kept in position by a peg or a nail. 



A hooked stick is sometimes used to connect a ladder with a single 

 branch from which it is desired to pluck the fruit. Besides the hook at 

 the top of the stick by which it is attached to the tree, there is another 

 on a ring which can be adjusted at different heights on the stick, on to 

 which the ladder is hung by one of its rungs. The basket best adapted 

 for picking cherries into is circular in shape, rather wider at the middle 

 than the top, and supplied with a handle on which is threaded a hook 

 by which it can be hung from the ladder or the tree. 



Cherries are gathered before they are quite ripe so as to prevent 

 their becoming over- ripe on the road. In the Rhineland cylindrical-shaped 

 baskets with flat wicker lids, holding about twelve English pounds, are used 

 for the transport of early Cherries and other first-grade fruits, which are 

 mostly despatched to Hamburg and its neighbourhood. 



The market basket generally is one with handles, slightly narrower 

 at the bottom than at the top, and holding about 50 to 60 lbs., similar to 

 the old-fashioned English laundry baskets ; when filled these are covered 

 with wood-wool, or leaves, and a piece of matting is sewed over the top, 

 which is protected by a few withies bound over the top in the form of a 

 crossed arch or crown. 



Apricots are gathered by hand in dry weather in the morning, and 

 care is taken to pick only the ripe fruit, and to pick over the same trees 

 for several days. A very convenient form of step-ladder for this purpose 

 is one 6 ft. long by 4 ft. 9 in. wide at the base, and 5 ft. high. 



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