202 Appendix. 



test of the proper height of the table is the height of the box when in 

 position on the supports, as shown in the figure; if the packer's ex- 

 tended fingers just touch the lower inside corner of the box as he stands 

 erect before it, the height is correct. Table legs three feet long usually 

 fill these conditions. A board nailed a.cross the end and another running 

 across underneath serve to support tlie box at a convenient angle for 

 packing. The latter board should, in addition to being nailed, be 

 fastened with wire, or in some equally secure manner, as there is con- 

 stant and often heavy pressure upon it. Commonly the box supports 

 are arranged at diagonally opposite corners, so that each packer may 

 have the table at his right; but, as many packers pack from the right 

 or left indifferently, and find relief in changing about, many tables are 

 made with three supports (as in the illustration), or four. The top of 

 the table consists merely of burlap or canvas, which is tacked on loosely 

 so as to leave considerable sag in the middle. It is an improvement if 

 a double thickness of the cloth is used and the upper tacked at one end 

 only, allowing dirt and litter easily to be shaken off. All the apples 

 should be packed off the table about once an hour to prevent bruise? 

 wearing upon them. The danger of bruises may be lessened by edging 

 the table with pieces of hose pipe thrust upon a stick. There are no 

 high sides on this table to reach over, and the packer can remove the 

 apples from its hollow as conveniently as a cashier can remove coins 

 from the hollows of a cash till. Compare it with the table shown in 

 Figure 22, and its superiority will be evident. The one in Figure 22 has 

 a rim four inches high, the top being of canvas tightly stretched, since 

 a sag would allow it to rest on the box supports v/hich run across under 

 the middle of the table. It is inconveniently large, being forty by 

 eighty inches. To make it more portable it is not provided with legs, 

 but rests on saw horses, and is equipped at each end with handles. (In 

 the picture the handles are concealed by the lining papers which hang 

 over them.) 



One more piece of furniture — the nailing press — is essential to the 

 equipment of the packing house. There are m.any types of these, from 

 the crude, clumsy affair shown in P'igure 22, to the highly effective one 

 shovm in Figure 17. The press shown in Figure 22 is a simple affair, 

 but open to the same objections as a double clamp press. Now, turning 

 to the press in Figure 17, which is in general use at Hood River, we 

 find all of these objections are cleverely met. The box being placed in 

 position on the press, the cover and cleats are clapped into place, and 

 pressure on the foot lever brings all down tight, ready for nailing. The 

 first pressure on the lever brings the arms inward, thus trueing up the 

 cover boards automatically; then, as it descends further, the arms are 

 drawn downward, clamping boards and cleats tightly to the box. The 

 pressure is exerted directly over the box ends, and the claws which 

 engage the cover are so spaced as to be entirely out of the way of 

 nailing. The plan of construction of this press is given on another 



