The Best Fruit Packages. 137 



}>ecks, being the most convenient low-priced package to be obtained, was 

 adopted as the standard apple barrel, and, as other sections of the West came 

 into line, the same sized barrel was used, making the two and a half bushel 

 barrel standard in the country bordering upon the Mississippi river. 



Gradually the facilities for transportation increased, and our apples yearly 

 came more and more into competition with those from Indiana, Michigan, 

 New York and other States, where the three bushel barrel was in general 

 use, and the Western dealer soon learned that it was impossible for him to 

 sell his " pony " barrel by the side of the full sized package, and that he was 

 forced to take a back seat and accept a price much below that of his Eastern 

 neighbor, principally because of the fact that the transportation companies 

 had agreed upon a standard of one hundred and fifty pounds weight for a 

 barrel of apples, and the buyer who wanted to ship his fruit a long distance 

 was enabled to transport twenty per cent, more fruit for the same amount of 

 money, and always refused to accept the small barrel except at a price suffi- 

 ciently low to overcome this difference in transportation. 



Then commenced a contest between the dealer and the producer, the for- 

 mer demanding three bushels and the latter declining to furnish over two 

 and a half bushels for a barrel, until the dealer was forced to purchase his 

 apples by the bushel, thus accomplishing the same end, until the producer 

 became accustomed to the full sized package, and at the present time the 

 barrel in use all over the country is the size of a flour barrel, containing 

 three bushels of apples. 



Therefore we will say, always pack your apples in bright, new, and if pos- 

 sible, flat-hooped, three bushel barrels, lining both heads neatly with the cut 

 head liner, which can be obtained in almost every city of anj^ size, and the 

 result will be seen in the increased size of your pocket book when your fruit 

 has been disposed of. 



The pear is shipped in various styles of package, according to quality and 

 the demands of the market in which they are to be sold. 



Our experience has taught us that fine selections of this fruit, such as are 

 in demand for the fruit stands or table use, sell best when wrapped and 

 packed in the style of box used by the California growers, which has a head 

 eight and a half by twelve, and slats nineteen inches long, while the culls and 

 common varieties may be shipped in third-bushel boxes or barrels. 



Peaches, for long distance, carry best in third-bushel boxes, as that style of 

 ])ackage will stand more rough handling and carry the goods to a distant 

 market in better condition than any other; but fine peaches, not intended 

 for reshipment, may be matured upon the tree and carried to market in peck 

 baskets, covered with tarleton, and enclosed in light frames or crates, to pre- 

 vent the fruit from becoming bruised, in which shape they are almost sure to 

 meet a quick and remunerative demand. 



Strawberries, and that class of fruits, should be packed in full dry-measure 

 quart boxes, twenty-four in a case, as that is the most convenient size and 



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