Downhearting

Downhearting

With the term beating we mean, in agriculture, the method of harvesting various types of fruit such as nuts, olives, chestnuts, etc.
The beating consisting in beating the branches with long poles to make the now mature product fall to the ground.
The beating technique is also used to lighten the tree from too much load and from fruits that would not reach full ripeness anyway, so the operation is also aimed at improving the quality of the remaining fruits.

The beating, even if fast and comfortable, is however a inadvisable practice as it causes lesions of the trees with the consequence that the tree must then spend energies to restore the injured parts and also because from these lesions various viruses and diseases are inserted fungal.
In recent times, traditional equipment has been replaced by electric or pneumatic tools with extendable rods that cause the fruits to fall on the nets through the fast vibration (over 1000 beats per minute) of opposed combs. This last technique is less invasive than hauling with poles.