The very best method depends a good deal upon the quantity to be
handled; if only a few hundred barrels, they can be put in open barrels
and stored on the barn floor. Place empty barrels on a log-boat or old
sled; take out the upper head and place it in the bottom of the barrel;
on picking the apples put them, without sorting, directly into these
barrels, and when a load is filled, draw to the barn and place in tiers
on end along one side of the floor; when one tier is full lay some
strips of boards on top and on these place another tier of barrels; then
more boards and another tier; two men can easily place them three tiers
high, and an ordinary barn floor will in this way store a good many
barrels of apples. Where many hundreds or thousands of barrels are
grown, it is a good plan to build houses or sheds in convenient places
in the orchard for holding the apples as picked; these are built on
posts or stones, about one foot from the ground; floors, sides, and ends
should be made of strips about four inches wide and placed one inch
apart, and the roof should project well on every side. The apples, as
picked, are drawn to these in boxes or barrels and piled carefully on
the floors, about three feet deep.
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