Henry Gee Preparing the Tree Shaker during Cherry Harvest, 1972

Cherry growers hired pickers (often migrant laborers) to harvest their crops, but growers sought faster, less labor-intensive solutions. Agricultural engineers developed mechanical harvesters by the late 1960s. These machines shook the trees, causing the ripe fruit to drop onto collecting mats. This slide shows a stage in a mechanical harvest on a family farm in Michigan's cherry-growing region near Traverse City.