How do you get a Hired Hand to pick up a specific item?

In this other question, I asked how best to use Hired Hands. Apparently, their best use is to carry things (with a side order of "they set off arrow traps" and "fortunately, they don't live long"). So: how do you force your Hired Hand to pick up the item you want, rather than the rock that they decided to carry instead?

(Bonus question: if you're trying to get them to carry the Eggplant, how can you prevent them from splatting it on the landscape? Is it even possible?)

Solution 1:

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell your hired hand what to do, nor control there actions in any way.

The wiki describes them as clumsy with sub-par intelligence, an understatement in my opinion.

You literally have no control over them, apart from the fact that they follow you. Your Hired Hand will pick up the first thing they come across, then interact with it (by splatting it on the ground for example).

To answer your questions, you cannot force them to pick up what you want, and you cannot prevent them from splatting your eggplants.