BETTERr FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN. PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



The Development of the Fruit Package 



THE object of this article is to trace 

 ttie development of the package of 

 the apple, pear, ijcach, plum and 

 cherry from the time these first ap- 

 peared on the markets of the United 

 States until the present time; and from 

 the past and present tendencies proph- 

 esy what packages the fruit growers of 

 the future will adopt. In the publica- 

 tions of the past which have been avail- 

 able little attention and space has been 

 given to the discussion of the fruit 

 package, which now has become an 

 important phase of the marketing !)rob- 

 lem. .Judging from this, the growing of 

 the fruit was the all-imi)ortant matter 

 and the marketing was a secondary 

 consideration. The marketing of fruit 

 until recently was a simple matter, 

 since the home markets were able to 

 handle all of the fruit grown locally, 

 and for this reason, and due to the fact 

 that keen competition did not exist, the 

 fi'uit was i)laced upon the market in 

 almost an> kind of package. Before the 

 year 1840 there were comparatively few 

 commercial orchards of any sort in the 

 United States. Most of tlie fruit grown 

 at that time was grown in the home 

 orchard, for home use, and only the 

 surplus was marketed. Most of this 

 surplus was carried to the markets in 

 the farmer's wagon and sold di"ect to 

 the consumer, by peck or bushel, the 

 ])ackage not being given with the fruit. 

 For the cit\' retail trade the fruit was 

 marketed in most any package avail- 

 able. Innumerable crude packages have 

 been found upon the maikets, varying 

 in sizes and description and being made 

 of every kind of materials. 



It was with the rapid development of 

 the fruit industry between the years 

 1845 and 18(10, when hundreds of 

 commercial orchards were comin-'J into 

 bearing throughout the United States, 

 that the question of the fruit nackage 

 first became of importance. The tre- 

 mendous amount of fruit being thrown 

 upon the market between the years 

 185.1 and 18(iO, much more attention was 

 given than formerly to the marketing 

 of these crops. The wholesale market 

 rather than the retail played a larger 

 part in the fruit industry, causin.g a 

 Ijroper development of the fruit pack- 

 age. The fruit men realized that it was 

 not altogether the fruit wliich caused a 

 sale, hut that the iiackage played a verv 

 iniiiorlani |)art. The fruit was not onl,\ 

 displayed to better advantage, but also 

 arrived on the market in better con- 

 dition. Since the sale of the fruil was 

 handicapped by the use of discolored 

 second-hand packages, the trade came 

 to demand the "gift" package more and 



By E. D. Lake and W. B. Arens. 



more. During the last half century 

 there has been a general embetterment 

 of the fruit package, until today we find 

 many novel as well as neat and useful 

 packages upon the market. 



In the latter part of the eighteenth 

 century a shipment of apples was made 

 from the United States to Benjamin 

 Fianklin, who was then in Europe. 

 The fruit, through careful packing, ar- 

 rived in good condition; this showed 



Features of this Issue 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRUIT 

 PACKAGE 



THE APPLE AS A FARM PRODUCT; 



HISTORY AND PRESENT 



STATUS 



THREE YEARS OF PRACTICAL EXPE- 

 RIENCE WITH HOME CANNING 



COVER CROPS FOR BEARING 

 GATED ORCHARDS 



MARKETING THE APPLE 



the possibilities of the foreign develop- 

 ment of the fruit industry and necessi- 

 tated the use of a strong, substantial 

 package for shipping purposes. 



Until recently the form of apple 

 package was chiefly the barrel, which 

 now has a more or less definite size 

 and shape. Formerly there were wide 

 extremes in the tyjie of the barrels 

 found on the various markets, ranging 

 froiu small kegs to hogsheads. Thus it 

 could be seen that many of these would 

 be wholly unsuitable. Apples have been 

 packed in barrels ever since orcharding 

 became a conunercial branch of farm- 

 ing. The barrel is the standard package 

 for api)les east of the Rockies, and from 

 all indications it will continue to be so 

 for some years to come. In some local- 

 ities the so-called half barrel has been 

 used for marketing apples on a small 

 scale. The half barrel is nothing more 

 than a small barrel whi'li holds about 

 one-half of the slandard aimle barrel. 

 Its use is very limited. l-"or high grade 

 fanc>' apples and for special markets 

 some of the growers are packing apples 

 in the Oregon slandard aijple box, but 

 the box tra<le represents insi"nili''anl 

 parts of the apple business in the I'asl. 

 ("leorgia is an excei)tion to Ibis rule, as 

 it iiacks most of its apples in the Xorth- 

 weslcrn slandard box. The bushel and 



half-bushel hampers arc used for ship- 

 ments of early apples for short dis- 

 tances, not over two or three hundred 

 miles. 



There is a third class of package for 

 apples which is just now coming into 

 prominence and which is bound to 

 become of more and more importance. 

 That is the small retail "take-home" 

 package holding from a few quarts up 

 to perhaps a half bushel. These pack- 

 ages are principally of two types, either 

 the basket or carton. They have the 

 advantage, from the standpoint of the 

 consumer, that they can be easily car- 

 ried in the hand; that they keep the 

 fruit in good condition, and that they 

 hold so little fruit that the question of 

 storage is not important. Thus they 

 obviate the greatest dillicultv which is 

 experienced with the barrel and even 

 with the box, namely, that the ordinary 

 household cannot use all of the apples 

 before they begin to decay. An addi- 

 tional advantage of the small nac!:aee 

 being attractivelv packed is that the 

 fruit can be much better disclavei. In 

 this regard. F^. C. Sears, professor of 

 pomology, Massachusetts Agricultural 

 College, might be (luoted: "There is 

 also among those who grow very fancy 

 apples a movement to try a still s-naller 

 ])ackage. particularly of the pasteboard 

 carton type. These have been taken up 

 because the barrel and Western box 

 both bruise the apples loo much. \ few 

 growers are also tryina a carton which 

 holds practically a bushel and which is 

 supplied with partitions similar to an 

 egg case. At a recent meeting of our 

 association (Massachusetts Horticultural 

 .\ssociation) we had such a package on 

 exhibition which had been shipju'd 

 from Virginia to Brockton in this state, 

 then back to Boston, then up to Wor- 

 cester, where our meeting was held, yet 

 the apples arrivcil in perfect condition." 



West of the Hockies, including Colo- 

 rado, the apples are neaily wholl\ han- 

 dled in boxes. The first shipment of 

 apples fi'om Oregon to distant ])oints 

 was made in 1853, when large boxes 

 bound with iron straps were sent to 

 San Francisco by steamer. The apples 

 sold as high as ■*2 a pound. The Ore- 

 gon standard and California sjiecial 

 boxes are used to the exclusion of all 

 others. It is a fact that the Western 

 apple growers market their apples in 

 boxes, in the markets of Eastern cities, 

 and these same markets i)refer to have 

 Ihe Eastern a|)ples packed in barrels. 

 It cannot be explained why this should 

 be the case, unless it is because Ihe 

 Western apples are of such superior 

 (Uialih Id be demanded l)\ special fanc.\- 



