click - Parish of Greater Whitbourne

Growing up on the farm– By David TownsendEpisode Five (of Eight)Fruit Picking - In spring once thefruit has set, and the petals hadfallen, the trees were sprayed againstfungus, disease and pests. We hadacquired an ex-army trailer to carry a500-gallon tank, and a twin pistonpump attached to a petrol engine.You could easily reach all thebranches from off the ground by usingthe tubular extensions.Having finished harvest, having emptiedthe yards of the manure onto theground, having ploughed the manurein, and with the winter corn planted,it would be late September. The damsonswould be ready for picking. Followingclose behind, the plums wouldbe ready, by which time the appleswere ready to pick. One of the trailers,less side boards would be takendown and drawn alongside the granary,to collect the ladders and fruitbaskets.Grandad Davis had made most of theladders, being a wheelwright. The ladderswere stored along and in betweenthe cross beams of the granary,above the loose grain of oats, with thepicking baskets hanging from them.They would be gently slid out frombetween the beams and placed one ontop of another along the length of thetrailer, with the foot of the laddersplaced over the front vertical screwmechanism for tipping the trailer, asa support. The ladders would beroped on at the rear end, and the basketshung by their hooks danglingfrom the rear. The trailer would thenmove to the top barn to load the fruitboxes, used to carry 48lbs of damsonsand 40lb of pears, plums andapples, and delivered by the fruitmerchant some days previous.Once in the orchard the laddersneeded unloading with care, becausethey could easily be broken. Youneeded to be strong and have asteady hand to lift the ladders andplace them into the trees. If it is oneof the large ladders, with 40 rungsand 30 feet in length, and because ofits weight and difficulty to balance,you would lower the ladder spikesinto the ground, holding it verticallyfor a few moments, to allow you timeto decide where to place the ladder inthe tree for the safest position.You need to be agile and nimble aswell as having a good head forheights together with a degree of confidenceto climb and manoeuvre onladders. There are times, when yousee that perfectly shaped apple whichis sitting right on the farthest point ofa twig. You have to lean out with onehand anchored to the rung of the ladder,with your weight helping to balancethe ladder, without both you andthe ladder twisting or being pulledsideways and coming out of the tree.As well as ensuring you pick a suitableladder for the tree there is an artto picking fruit. Damson trees are agood introduction to fruit picking, asthey do not grow very large, so youwill only need a 15 to 20-rung ladder.The fruit is easy to pick, but you mustensure you do not pick the fruit withthe stalk on, and make sure you donot include leaves, to avoid a reprimandfrom the farmer. Pears have to8 October 2012