70 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



orchard into sixty-two or sixty-three different sizes, you pretty 

 nearly use up the different sizes of apples that you have in the 

 orchard ; and you could get them all into the box and have 

 every one fit up against the others tightly in such a manner that 

 they will not bulge. 



Just one word more about this standard box. The ends are 

 7-8 inch stuff or 3-4, it doesn't make much difference which, 

 thick enough to give solidity to the box ; the sides 3-8 inch 

 stuff, — 3-8 is thick enough so that it will not spring and at the 

 same time it is light enough so that the box is light and easy to 

 handle. If you use thicker stuff you are using more wood than 

 you need and the box is heavier. For the tops and the bottoms 

 you want thin lumber which will bend a little bit, whicli will 

 give a bulge to the middle of the box so that the cover will fit 

 down tightly and hold the apples in place. So we use 1-4 inch 

 stuff for the top. Of course the tops and bottoms be-ng so thin 

 when they bulge as the box is handled they are likely to split 

 a little bit. To prevent that a narrow cleat is nailed across to 

 hold the nails and to keep the tops and the bottoms from, split- 

 ting. A box like that costs from eight to ten cents or eleven 

 cents, depending upon how many you get and upon the company 

 you get them from ; but they can be made for about that price. 

 That gives you some idea of what this standard Canadian box 

 is. An expert packer can probably pack four to five boxes per 

 hour of medium sized apples and six to seven of large apples. 



Now a word about this packing table. It is the kind of pack- 

 ing table which I think ought to be in every orchard in the 

 State of Maine. The cost of the lumber and labor in making 

 it is from two dollars and a half to three or four dollars, 

 depending upon how fast a man can nail them together. It 

 has 2x4 legs, 3 ft. high. On the inside, the ends are 3 ft. i in. 

 board; the sides are 4 ft. ; 3x4x3. Just an ordinary board 

 along each side and the end board projects 14 inches at the 

 opposite corner in order to make a rest on which to set the box. 

 The top is covered with ordinary burlap that you can get for 

 thirty or forty cents a yard. There are two thicknesses of this 

 burlap. Only one thickness is nailed down and that supports 

 the entire weight of the apples. As you see, there is a barrel 

 on here and another half barrel could be put on without taxing 



