9 



Materials foe Packing. 



Boxes. The first item in a perfect pack is a clean box. Clean white material 

 should be bought to start with, and the boxes never used for any other purpose 

 than packing. The best available material for boxes is spruce, being whiter and 

 neater in appearance than fir and so soft that it is not easily split when nailed. 



The proper thickness for box materials is as follows: Ends three-quarters of 

 an inch, sides three-eights, and top and bottom one-quarter. Thinner ends are apt 

 to split, thinner sides to bulge, resulting in bruising in transportation, and thicker 

 tops not to bulge enough, hence crushing the fruit. For the same reasons sides 

 should be of one solid piece and tops of two pieces. 



The use of rosin coated nails is to be strongly advocated, as they hold far 

 better than the ordinary nail. Also being thinner, they are more easily driven 

 in, and do not split the box lumber as readily as do other kinds. 



Size of Box. Two sizes of box, the Northwest Standard, 101/2 by 111;^ by 181/4 

 inches, and the Northwest Special 10 by 11 by 20 inches, inside measurements, have 

 been generally adopted throughout the western apple growing districts. The one used 

 in Canada, the Northwest Special, will pack practically all sizes and shapes of apples 

 likely to be found in Ontario. The deeper and wider box might be employed, but if 

 all the packing can be done satisfactorily in one size of box it is, of course, better to 

 use the one size altogether. It avoids confusion. Also, it is as easy to pack in the 

 one box as in the other, it being simply a matter of which size of box the packer is 

 used to. 



There are other factors relative to the size of box, however, which are probably 

 of more importance than convenience in packing, Mr. R. M. Winslow, Provincial 

 Horticulturist for British Columbia, in an article in the Canadian Horticulturist for 

 September, 1913, writes : 



"The box at present in use has in its favor law, custom, and the favor of certain 

 markets. The short box is commended to us by reason of its uniformity with other 

 standard fruit packages, with consequent convenience in manufacturing, warehous- 

 ing, and in loading oars. It is a more attractive package and possibly a cheaper 

 one, and, above all, it has the favor of the coast and prairie provinces." 



Lining Paper. This serves to give the package a more finished appearance 

 and also to keep dirt and odors away from the fruit. Lining paper is necessary 

 only when the fruit is not wrapped, as wrapping more than accomplishes the same 

 object. 



The size of the paper is approximately twenty by twenty-six inches. This 

 allows for generous overlapping on both top and bottom of the box. In lining the 

 box a sheet of paper is placed over one side, letting one end come a little past the 

 centre of the bottom. Either hand is then placed flat on the bottom of the box 

 on top of the sheet of paper and sufficient force applied to put a bulge in the 

 bottom. This makes an opening or extended gap between the side and the bottom 

 of the box. The paper is then pressed out with the side of the hand a little way 

 in the opening so made. As the hand is raised this opening closes up and 

 catches a pleat or fold in the lining paper, which is needed to keep the bulge of 

 the packed and nailed box from bursting the paper. The other side of the box is 

 lined similarly. 



The method of folding a pleat in the lining paper before putting in the box 

 is a slow process, as it takes as long to put the lining in after it is folded as it does 

 to put the paper in and catch the fold as described above. 



