34 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



goes under that grade. We have second grade 'fruit and the hucksters 

 come out and get that, and I suppose the poor people suffer. I believe 

 that many don't employ or use enough labor. Some of us cannot get 

 it, and yet people are idle in the city and crying for low prices and 

 won't come out and help us. I am not much in sympathy with such 

 people. A 3'ear ago one of our men was sick along in June and we 

 had to get another man — you know what a busy season that is. We 

 put an ''Ad" in the Toledo paper and there were 62 or 63 applicants, 

 and Ave got a very good man from these applicants. Possibly you have 

 some people in your city who want a place on a fruit farm to learn the 

 business. We have many bright young men who are doing good work. 

 The Pennsylvania College sends out young men to get the practical 

 education required ; we get them and we find they are good help. 



Mr. Rogers: What method of cooling is used in the cold storage? 



Mr, Farnsworth : I have no cold storage at home. My brother has. 

 He uses ice overhead — direct icing above. My own plan of handling 

 my apples especially has been — we have a large cellar and a packing 

 and storage room above for packing the apples in and an elevator 

 carrjdng the fruit above from the cellars below. We pack directly into 

 the barrels if it is cool, but much of the time it is not cool enough. Then 

 we let them stand on the barn floor, which is cool, and the following 

 morning while it is a little damp for picking and apples are cooled off 

 we can use all hands to put them into the barrels. We just simply put 

 them into storage for packing in the winter. Some prefer to grade 

 them in the orchard and pack them right there. 



A Member: In packing by weight, isn't it quite a job — isn't there 

 quite a difference in the weight of the peaches? 



Mr. Farnsworth : Yes, you take some of the smaller peaches and 

 there is a vast difference. Of course for the apples we use a full bushel. 

 But we have scales setting Avhore they are handy, and we set them right 

 on there and put them in. We grade all our fruit by hand, and that 

 requires considerable skill and experience, but if a picker has graded 

 for a year or two he will get pretty close to how many apples are neces- 

 sary for a bushel. If you have to load into a car you could not pack them 

 that way. 



Mr. Fralick : The weight proposition is one we are coming to if we 

 can get a bushel of peaches into a basket by weight. 



Mr. Farnsworth: I doubt if you could get a flat cover on a bushel 

 basket and get the weight in. 



A Member: I have been loading in bushel baskets and we just load 

 them without anything over them. 



Mr. Farnsworth : You are at a disadvantage there. You set your 

 basket which is only about level full by the side of one that is rounded 

 up and you know the one a customer would take, 



Mr. Pratt: You spoke of the Western boxes containing so many 

 apples. That is the only true pack. With us, we have too many various 

 sized apples in the package. My experience has been that this is a hard 

 proposition — to get a grade that is of a size. What is your opinion of 

 automatic graders? Do you think it advisable to use them. They don't 

 grade them, but put them in sizes. 



Mr. Farnsworth: It grades them for size; not for color or perfection. 

 I believe under a good many conditions that plan can be used to good 

 advantage. I would certainly try it, but as I said, our conditions are 



