[Illustration: Figure 212.--Tree Pruners. The best made pruners are the cheapest. This long handled pruner is made of fine tool steel from the cutting parts clear to the outer ends of the wooden handles. A positive stop prevents the handles from coming together. Small one-hand pruning nippers are made for clean cutting. The blades of both pruners should work towards the tree trunk so the hook will mash the bark on the discarded portion of the limb.] The illustration shows one of the most convenient picking ladders. It is a double ladder with shelves to hold picking trays supported by two wheels and two legs. The wheels which are used to support one side of the frame are usually old buggy wheels. A hind axle together with the wheels works about right. The ladder frame is about eight feet high with ladder steps going up from each side. These steps also form the support for the shelves. Picking trays or boxes are placed on the shelves, so the latter will hold eight or ten bushels of apples, and may be wheeled directly to the packing shed if the distance is not too great. [Illustration: Figure 213.--Shears. The first pair is used for sheep shearing. The second is intended for cutting grass around the edges of walks and flower beds.] Step-ladders from six to ten feet long are more convenient to get up into the middle of the tree than almost any other kind of ladder. Commercial apple trees have open tops to admit sunshine. For this reason, straight ladders are not much used. It is necessary to have ladders built so they will support themselves. Sometimes only one leg is used in front of a step-ladder and sometimes ladders are wide at the bottom and taper to a point at the top. The kind of ladder to use depends upon the size of the trees and the manner in which they have been pruned. Usually it is better to have several kinds of ladders of different sizes and lengths. Pickers then have no occasion to wait for each other. FEEDING RACKS