Fruit Brevities. 



I. PACKING-HOUSES FOR FRUIT. 



There is much demand for instruction upon the style of houses 

 which are best suited for the packing and handling of fruits. 

 The subject is one which cannot be treated specifically for each 

 grower, from the fact that every person has a different ideal, 

 and he may grow fruits for a market which demands particular 

 treatment of the products. The packing-houses most frequently 

 seen in western New York are those used by the grape men; and 

 if one studies the question, he will find that there are two dis- 

 tinct types of packing-houses in use in the grape regions. One 

 type is a combined packing and storage house, and is used very 

 largely in the central lake region, where Catawbas are grown 

 and where the grapes are often stored for some time before they 

 are marketed. The other type of house is that which is used in 

 Chautauqua County and which is simply a half-way station be- 

 tween the field and the railway station, — a shelter place for the 

 packing of grapes, — and is not used for the storage of the fruit. 



In the lake region, as about Keuka and Seneca lakes, the grape 

 interest developed at a very early period, before the market could 

 take large quantites of fruit, before the Concord was known, and 

 the Catawba is still the dominant variety. This variety is a 

 good keeper; so it has come that the packing-houses of this dis- 

 trict are very largely such as have cellars or cool rooms con- 

 nected with them, and in these cellars the grapes may be kept 

 until winter or even until spring. One of the best of this type 

 of packing-houses which I know is that of George C. Snow, at 

 Branchport, on Keuka Lake. This house is illustrated in Fig- 

 ures 122 and 123. It is built on a side hill, and the basement or 

 cellar is used for the storage of grapes, the first floor is used for 

 packing, and the second floor or attic for the storage of baskets, 

 ■crates, and the like. This building measures 25x60 feet over all. 



