The apples were picked by men standing on long ladders that reached up into the trees. Each filled a canvas bag with apples. These bags hung around their necks, and when one was full, the man came down the ladder with it. This was so the apples would not be bruised, for a bruised apple rots very quickly, and even one rotten apple in a barrel full, will soon make many bad ones.
"Can we pick apples on a ladder?" asked Bert.
"No, that's a little too dangerous for small boys," said Uncle Daniel. "But you and Harry may pick those you can reach from the ground. Some of the tree limbs are very low, and you won't have any trouble. Take some of the bags to put the apples in. Don't bruise them."
Harry and Bert were soon busy, picking off as many apples as they could reach. When their bags were filled, they emptied them carefully in a wooden bin, and from that bin Uncle Daniel sorted the apples into barrels, which were "headed up" ready to be taken to the city.
Nan had gone over to the home of Mabel Herold, the country girl, and
Flossie and Freddie found many things to amuse them about the farm.
Later on they came out to the orchard, and picked up apples from the
ground.
"I'll help fill Bert's bag, and you can help Harry," said Freddie to
Flossie.
"No, little fat fireman," said Harry, using the pet name his uncle called Freddie. "The apples on the ground are called 'windfalls.' The wind blows them down, and they get crushed and bruised by falling on the hard dirt, or stones. It would not do to put them in with the good hand-picked apples."
"But what do you do with all those on the ground?" asked Bert, for there were a great many of them.
"Send them to the cider-mill, or feed them to the pigs," said Harry.
"The grunters and squeakers don't mind bruised apples."
The children spent nearly all day in the shady orchard, until Uncle
Daniel said Bert and Harry had done enough work for the time.