BETTER FRUIT 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON — C. I. Lewis, Horticulturist. Corvallis. 



WASHINGTON — Dr. A. U Melander. Entomologist; 

 O. M. Motris. Horticulturist; W. S. Thornber. Horticul- 

 turist. Pullman. 



COLORADO— C. P. Gillette, Director and Entomologist; 

 E. B. House. Chief of Department of Civil and Inigation 

 Enpineering. State Agricultural College. Fort Collins. 



ARIZONA— E. P. Taylor. Horticulturist. Tucson. 



WISCONSIN— Dr. E. D. Ball. Director and Entomologist, 

 Madison. 



MONTANA— O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist. Bozeman. 



CALIFORNIA — C. W. Woodworth, Entomologist. Beike- 

 ley; W. H. Volclt. Entomologist. Watsonville ; Leon D. 

 Batchelor, Horticulturist, Riverside. 



INDIANA— H. S. Jackson. Pathologist. Lafayette. 



An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to the Interests 



of Modern, Progressive Fruit Growing 



and Marketing, 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



703 Oregonian Building 



PORTLAND, OREGON 



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Entered as second-class matter April 22, 1918, 



at the PostoHice at Portland, Oregon, under 



the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 



Volume XIII 



Portland, Oregon, June 1, 1919 



Number 12 



Picking and Packing the Cherry for the Big Markets 



PRORABLY no fruit that is grown 

 requires more careful handling in 

 picking and packing than the 

 cherry. Being extremely delicate to the 

 touch, it is easily bruised or the skin 

 punctured. When this occurs decay 

 quickly sets in and the package that 

 has injured fruit in it is naturally difli- 

 cult to market. 



Picking. 

 While packing is the most important 

 feature in preparing cherries for mar- 

 ket the picking of this fruit should be 

 given very careful attention also. In 

 regard to picking cherries a successful 

 grower gives this terse advice: 



Do not imagine that anyone who can 

 pick hops or strawberries can pick 

 cherries. Select your pickers, if pos- 

 sible. You want hands that will use 

 care in handling the fruit, that it be not 

 bruised or pulled off the stem; that will 

 not break off the easily-broken fruit 

 spurs, and that can run up and down a 

 ladder all day or stand on limbs with- 

 out injuring them. If possible, pick 

 your fruit in the morning, while still 

 cool. If picked after it has warmed up, 

 remove to a cool room for packing and 

 run in cold storage before shipping, 



especially for long distance shipments. 

 Pick into buckets and empty into shal- 

 low trays for packing, so packers will 

 not have to handle them over and bruise 

 them. Have pickers avoid touching the 

 fruit as much as possible, but pick by 

 the stem. The stem must not be cut 

 too short. 



Packing. 



In packing cherries there are several 

 styles of packages that are used. For 

 the small package of less than eight 

 pounds the paper carton meets the re- 

 quirements best and makes a very 

 attractive package. When received by 

 the grower the cartons are flat and are 

 packed one thousand in a crate. 



When removed from the crate they 

 should be laid on the table in front of 

 the packer, printed side down, for fold- 

 ing. The cartons are creased at all the 

 folds, and with proper care can be 

 easily and rapidly placed in shape to 

 receive the fruit. After being properly 

 folded the cartons are placed in a 

 wooden box that holds eight of these 

 packages and are packed in the man- 

 ner shown in Figure 1. Care should be 

 taken in placing each carton in the 

 box, as they do not always fold square. 



Figure 1 — Showing a complclod pacUnt^c tiiid the method of phieiug the cartons in the box. 



An exli-.iordiiiarily well developed yield of 

 cherries. 



but arc designed to fit in the wooden 

 carrier that way. 



Cherries that are packed in cartons 

 arrive at their destination in excellent 

 condition. There is also the advantage 

 of being able to remove a carton if the 

 fruit becomes bruised in transit and 

 replacing it with a second one and thus 

 avoiding the necessity for selling the 

 whole box at a cut price. 



The larger cherry packages are 

 packed in eight, ten and thirty-pound 



