"Those golden apples, as you call them," said Mr. Halliday, "are yellow oranges. I'll stop and let you pick some."
It was the first time the Brown children had ever seen the wonderful fruit growing, and they were delighted when Mr. Halliday stopped the car and they were allowed to get out. Then they saw that in between the rows of trees were men picking the oranges.
Some of the men were up on high stepladders, so they might reach the top branches of the trees. Other men stood on the ground, from which they could easily reach up to the low limbs and pull off the ripe fruit.
The men had big cloth bags slung over their shoulders or tied around their waists, and as fast as they picked the "golden apples," as Sue called them, they were dropped into the bags. When the bags were filled the men took them to empty boxes, placed here and there amid the trees, and placed the oranges into them. Other men took the boxes away as fast as they were filled, leaving more empty ones in their places.
"Do you ship the fruit right from here?" asked Mrs. Brown.
"First it has to be sorted, graded, as we call it," Mr. Halliday answered. "Then it is carefully packed and sent up North."
Bunny and Sue had been standing quietly to one side, listening to the talk of their parents and Mr. Halliday and watching the men pick the fruit. The grove owner now turned to the children and said:
"Go ahead! Pick as many as you like. Here, these are the best and ripest," and he led them to a tree, the lower branches of which were easily within the reach of Bunny and Sue.
With delight and wonder showing on their faces, the children picked their first oranges and ate them there in the grove, while the wind brought to them the sweet smell of distant blossoms.
"Oh, how good!" murmured Sue, as she finished her fruit.