THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



^57 



THIRD DAY— MORNING SESSION. 



Fresno, December 13, 1912. 



After an invocation by Rev. Thomas T. Giffin, the meeting was called 

 to order, Dr. A. J. Cook, State Commissioner, presiding. 



Dr. Cook. The first address to be given this morning is on Drainage 

 and Alkali Reclamation, by Mr. Frank Adams of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture at Berkeley, but as Mr. Adams has not yet 

 come in, I want to introduce to you Mr. Risser, who will give a short talk 

 on the packing of grapes in sawdust for long distance shipment and 

 storage purposes. 



PACKING GRAPES IN SAWDUST FOR SHIPMENT. 



By R. G. Risser. U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



There are approximately seven hundred thousand barrels of grapes 

 imported into this country from Spain, selling at a price of about three 

 million dollars, or something about four to sixteen cents per pound. The 

 first grapes that were packed in redwood sawdust— the first grapes ever 

 packed in sawdust — redwood sawdust at least — were packed by A. V. 

 Stubenrauch of the United States Department of Agriculture, in charge 

 of the field of pomology. He packed them three years ago, and since 

 then experiments in that department have been continued, and com- 

 mercial growers have now taken it up. This year twenty carloads of 

 grapes were packed and shipped to eastern markets, Chicago and New 

 York particularly ; these were packed in sawdust for commercial growers. 

 Last winter grapes that were packed in sawdust sold at auction for about 

 $2.60, I think, weighing about twenty-seven pounds. This year grapes 

 are being put up in drums, like you see here, packed in sawdust. The 

 sawdust has to be mixed in with the grapes, in between the bunches and 

 the fruit. A layer of sawdust is first put in the bottom of the drum, then 

 a layer of grapes and then another layer of sawdust, shaken well do^vn 

 into the grapes, and so on until the drums are completely filled up. The 

 cost of the drum is approximately about thirty-three cents. It is possible 

 that by next year they can be packed in boxes that will cost probably 

 about twelve cents, thus reducing the cost of packing. The cost of the 

 sawdust at the present time is about thirty-five cents a sack, holding 

 twenty-five pounds. That seems pretty high, but no doubt this will be 

 reduced as the demands grow for it and the growers begin to pack their 

 grapes on a larger scale. The cost of cork is, though, six to eight cents 

 a pound. Sawdust is much lighter than cork, and it requires about half 

 as much cork in weight as it does sawdust, so there is not quite as much 

 difference in the cost of sawdust and cork as you might fear. 



Some of the best commercial grapes for packing are the varieties 

 known as the Imperial and Malaga; those two are probably the best. 

 The Imperial will keep quite a little longer than the Malaga, until about 

 the middle of January, but the first time packing in sawdust Avas tried 



