66 



The essentia] general rules in grading vegetable? of all kinds are 

 the following :•—( I.) Exclude all immature, overgrown, coarse, or 

 defective specimens from the leading grades. (2.) Make each grade 

 as uniform as possible. (3.) Let freshness and fitness for use be the 

 characteristics of all vegetables when consigned to market or con- 

 sumers. To aid in all this only the best varieties obtainable should 

 be grown, and growers should watch closely for every real improve- 

 ment on old sorts. 



Wherever fruits or vegetables have to be transferred a distance 

 1>\ road or rail, the best culture and most careful grading may lose 

 all their value through neglectful packing. That many of the defects 

 in market consignments are either due to this or materially increased 

 thereby the majority of salesmen can confirm, and the complaints on 

 this score are as frequent as those regarding inattention to grading. 

 In dealing with fruits the essentials for success are as follows : — 

 (1) Use only perfectly sound fruits. (2) Pack firmly, without crush- 

 ing. (3) Use the best elastic odourless materials as packing. 

 (4) Place all choice and ripe fruits in small quantities and shallow 

 packages. 



In the home trade baskets are much more extensively used than 

 boxes, and the most common are round baskets without lids, of the 

 bushel, half-bushel, or half-sieve types. They ai-e strong and durable, 

 but are objectionable for all the best fruits as. even with the most 

 careful packing, the top layers are liable to be bruised, and under 

 careless methods they are certain to be damaged. When apples, 

 pears, plums, cherries, or gooseberries are sent in such baskets a 

 covering of paper, with straw or other material, is placed on the top 

 and secured by cross pieces of willow or hazel, the points of which 

 are forced through the sides of the basket below the rim. Flat 

 baskets with lids are preferable but expensive, and the difficulty with 

 all these is that they must be charged for or returned. In expensive 

 dealings with market salesmen baskets are supplied at very little cost 

 to the producer, but where it is desired to promote more direct 

 communication between the grower and retailer or consumer some 

 other method is preferable, or the producer must provide his own 

 baskets. It would be helpful in many districts if a local industry 

 could be developed in cheap basket making ; there are few places 

 where suitable willows could not be grown, and the basket making 

 might be performed in the winter evenings. For useful information 

 regarding willows and osiers suitable lor the purpose named, see 

 Leaflet No. -Wk 



Much could be said in favour of boxes for fruits, and, where only 

 small sizes are employed they may be purchased or made so cheaply 

 that they can be included in the price of the fruit, and thus all the 

 trouble of returning or collecting empties is avoided. Their more 

 general use under the right conditions would assist producers to 

 avoid overstocking the markets in seasons of heavy crops, and. I>\ 

 facilitating direct communication with the consumers, secure better 

 prices. In a small way. boxes can be made at home at a cost of 1-^rf. 

 to is. each; on a Larger scale, with the use of machinery, they may 

 be turned out at about 8s. to 50s. per 100, according to the size, and 

 boxes costing Id. to 6d. can always be given with the best grades of 



