Oct. 2, 1920.] 



Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 



TS7 



^^^ 



Fig. 6. This can be moved along in front of the p'cker, who places the 

 different sized berries in separa'e punnets. If this is done carefully, all that 

 is necessary when they ai-e carried to the packing shed is to carefully 

 arrange the top row to give it an even and attractive appearance. 



Care should 1)h taken to keep the berries of an even grade all through, so 

 that the grower's brand is sufficient guarantee to the buyer, as there is no 

 fruit which suffers so much from being pulled about by intending pu'^chasers 

 as the strawberry. Another advantage of honest packing is its assurance of 

 quick sales — an important point with such tender fruits. The crop may be 

 divided into three grades. All damaged berries, and those too small or 

 deformed to be classed as third grade, should be put aside. After packing 

 is finished, the stalks can be picked off these berries, which should then be 

 placed in kerosene tins, to be sold to jam makers by the pound. In seasons 

 when prices are low, third grade berries may be treated in the same way. 



If the punnets are to be packed 

 in an ordinary box and merely 

 separated from each other by a 

 piece of thin board or cardboard, 

 the berries must be packed just 

 below the edge of the punnet. 

 This method does not show the 

 fruit to best advantage, and 

 consequently most growers make 

 special carrying boxes, so de- 

 signed as to allow the berries to 

 be packed a little over the top 

 of the punnets. These boxes are 

 made by nailing narrow strips 

 across the ends so that two horizontal divisions of thin board may be slid in. 

 The depth allowed between these divisions is such that the punnets may 

 rest on them without the surface of the fruit touching the board above 

 {^ee Fig. 7). Silver Star starch boxes are useful in this connection, being 

 of the exact size to carry forty-five punnets. 



When a grower is situated close to a railway station and has only a few 

 punnets of off-crop berries to dispose of, a narrow bushel packing case can be 

 used to good advantage. Two of these, fitted with divisions as described, 

 and carefully packed, as shown in Fig. 8, can then be bound with straps 

 and carried either one in each liand or (strapped together) over the shoulder. 

 With the aid of such cases the grower can carry three or four dozen punnets 

 to the station, board the passenger train, and land his goods in the market 

 in good time and in first-class order. 



Nearly all our strawberries are now sold in chip baskets or punnets. These 

 are of different capacities — the pint, the pound, and the quart. Tlie pint and 

 the pound sizes are generally used for the best qualities, and usually bring the 

 same price as the quart size. 



( To be continued. ) 



Fig. 8. — Carrying box, containing twenty punnets. 



