STATE POMOLOGICAI, SOCIETY. 69 



DEMONSTRATION IN APPLE PACKING. 



By Professor Gardner and Orono Students. 



Mr President and members of the Pomological Society: — Just 

 a few words about box packing. I have here the standard 

 apple box of Canada, 10x11x20 inside measurement. It 

 holds 2200 cubic inches, a little bit more than the number of 

 cubic inches called for in the regular bushel, although different 

 from what is called for in the bill before Congress that has just 

 been read. The question was asked as I was coming up here, 

 how we can grow apples to just exactly fit the box. Now 

 (illustrating) there are four apples which just exactly fit across 

 the bottom of that box. Supposing the apples run a little bit 

 smaller, instead of putting four across the bottom we put five 

 across. Sometimes you will get apples that run somewhat 

 between these in size. Instead of putting them all across edge- 

 wise, turn one or two flatwise in order to make them fit in 

 exactly tight; so what is called the straight pack can be adapted 

 to fit almost any apple. Now we have another style of packing 

 * which would accommodate apples of still dififerent sizes. Sup- 

 pose we put three apples on the bottom with a space between 

 them, then the next apples would come in against the spaces left 

 by the other three, and in the next tier there would be three 

 across the bottom, the next two, the next three, and so on. 

 There would be sHght spaces left but they dovetail or wedge in 

 between each other, so that every apple is held tight. This is 

 known as the diagonal pack, 2 1-2, 3 1-2 or 4 1-2, depending on 

 how many rows of apples there are across the box. Those two 

 packs will accommodate nearly every size of apple. Then there 

 is the pack known as the offset pack (which was illustrated). 

 Between these three different packs you can accommodate any 

 size of apple. Now depending on whether the apple is turned 

 edgewise or sidewise or blossom end up or stem end up, and 

 using various combinations of those different packs, and the 

 different ways of turning the apples in the different packs, there 

 are something like sixty-two or sixty-three different packs pos- 

 sible. And if you grade all the apples that come from an 



