Among the processes in orchard fruit production, partial mechanization has done little to reduce the peak demand for labour during the year. The most welcome new machine would be a harvester which, if it is to displace labour, will above all have to be efficient in not damaging the fruit. As regards English apples and pears, a machine that is to replace labour that is no longer available would have to be almost equally efficient. Working back from an economic specification, it seems that an efficient machine will be expensive, and that an expensive machine will have to harvest hundreds of acres to be economic.