November, 1921 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 7 



Preparing the Boxed Apple for Distribution 



By Raymond Pailthorp 



Investigator in Marketing Fruits and Vegetables, in Collaboration With Harold W. Samson, 

 Specialist in Standardization, With Department of Agriculture 



APPLE PACKING HOUSES may 

 be classified in two groups, indi- 

 vidual packing houses, which are 

 more commonly known as ranch packmg 

 houses, and community houses, operated 

 cither by co-operative associations or by in- 

 dividuals. The percentage of the crop 

 packed in community houses is increasing 

 steadily. The same basic principles of 

 construction and equipment are ap- 

 plicable to all types of houses and 

 the equipment and methods of opera- 

 tion in die larger community houses arc 

 suitable to a large extent for use in the 

 ranch houses. The fruit should be passed 

 through the various operations in an or- 

 derly way, moving in one direction from 

 the receiving point to the storage or car. 

 Community packing houses arc especially 

 desirable in the apple-growing districts of 

 the Northw^est, where the acreage is us- 

 ually concentrated in the river valleys and 

 where individual holdings with few ex- 

 ceptions are small, ranging from 5 to 15 

 acres. A group of growers by joining forces 

 may easily finance the erection of a mod- 

 ern packing establishment. In a commun- 

 ity house it is possible to perfect an or- 

 anization of trained men to bring the 

 grading and packing operations to a uni- 

 formly high standard. The operations are 

 generally on a scale large enough to war- 

 rant the employment of competent work- 

 men to supervise the various operations, 

 and the cost of inspection is greatly re- 

 duced by having this work done at a cen- 

 tral point. The cost of packing in a com- 

 munity house is not always lower than 

 where the work is done by the individual, 

 but it usually can be done more rapidly. 



One important factor in favor of central 

 houses is better conditions for the employ- 

 ment of labor. Very fewr of the smaller 

 ranches have adequate housing and sub- 

 sistence facilities for the care of their ad- 

 ditional help during the packing season. 

 Such living conditions do not attract lab- 

 orers. Some growers have tried hauling 

 the packers back and forth from town 

 each day, but this practice is not satisfactory 

 because much time is lost on the road. 

 Then, too, help is usually at such pre- 

 mium that if one person is tardy in re- 

 porting the grower will detain the remain- 

 der of the crew waiting his arrival. As the 

 work is generally paid by the piece the 

 employees are inclined to seek employment 

 where they can put in full time and have 

 comfortable living quarters. In community 

 houses it is also easy to provide for the 

 comfort of the employees in the packing 

 room. Such rooms when provided with 

 an abundance of sunlight are very com- 

 fortable during the greater part of the day. 



;, mil Ill mil mimiiim i m i iii^' 



I Advantages of community fading 



I houses for affle growers of many 



I lections of the Northwest were foint- 



I ed out in an article presented last 



I month. Here we have from the \ 



I investigations of Professors Pailthorf \ 



I and Samson further detail of the \ 



I benefits and economies of such coTn- \ 



I munity -plants. In addition, there | 



I are presented the definite and con- | 



I Crete requirements to be taken into | 



I consideration in planning and con- | 



I s true ting the community packing | 



I house. — Editor. | 



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but during extremely cold weather and in 

 early morning artificial heat is needed. 

 Some of the larger houses have steam or 

 hot vvater heat for the offices, and pipes 

 could be installed along the side walls of 

 the packing room. Hot-air furnaces and 

 oil or coal stoves can also be used satis- 

 factorily. 



To provide for the comfort of the em- 

 ployees while engaged in packing oil hot 

 summer days, it has been found advisable 

 in some houses to place about 8 inches of 

 mill shavings or sawdust in the ceiling to 

 keep out the heat. If the roof is flat or 

 the loft is not used for the storage of boxes, 

 this insulating material may be placed loose- 

 ly on the ceiling boards. This arrange- 

 ment also serves to retain the heat in cold 

 weather. 



ALTHOUGH the better class of house 

 is utilized usually for both packing 

 and storage purposes, it should be under- 

 stood at the outset that the fundamental 

 priciples underlying the construction of 

 storage houses and of packing rooms are 

 by no means identical. Packing in storage 

 room is a far too common practice. A stor- 

 age room should be well insulated, properly 

 ventilated, without windows, and with re- 



Gravity Conveyor for Carrying Packed Boxes to 



the Lidding Press. Underneath Is a Slide for 



Carrying Empty Boxes to the Packer 



latively few doors for use in receiving and 

 delivering the fruit. It should be used 

 solely as a storage house. On the other 

 hand, the best type of packing room Is 

 provided with abundant light and adequate 

 operating space and should be equipped to 

 furnish artificial heat during the cold 

 weather for the comfort of the employees. 

 Such a room is not fitted for the storage 

 of either loose or packed fruit, as the 

 quality of apples is invariably impaired by 

 the high temperatures. In a large number 

 of houses, proper provision has been made 

 for the storage of packed fruit, but in 

 comparatively few houses is the loose fruit 

 Storage separate from the packing oper- 

 ations. 



The best site for » ranch packing house 

 usually is found near the residence arid 

 other farm buildings, close to the main 

 traveled road. Such a location is partic- 

 ularly desirable where there is a common 

 •torage house in connection with the pack- 

 ing house, as the storage house is usually 

 air cooled and requires the attention of 

 some one to operate the ventilators during 

 the storage season. If the house is a cori- 

 jiJerablc distance from the ranch house it 

 is less likely to be cared for properly.^ In 

 large orchards situated on level land it is 

 often an advantage to locate the packing 

 house near the middle of the orchard to 

 reduce hauling distance for the loose fruit. 

 In such cases it is necessary to provide a 

 good road from the house to the main 

 traveled road to facilitate the hauling of 

 packed fruit. If the orchard is located on 

 hilly land the house should be built at a 

 point which will necessitate the minimum 

 amount of up hill hauling. Sometimes a 

 hillside can be utilized to advantage by 

 placing the packing room on the second 

 floor and providing for receiving the fruit 

 on this floor on the upper side of the build- 

 ing. The packed fruit can then be con- 

 veyed by means of gravity conveyors to the 

 storage room on the ground floor and load- 

 ed out on the lower side of the house. The 

 receiving platform should be level with the 

 wagon beds, and the loading platform 

 should also be at this level or at the level 

 of the car floor in case the house is on the 

 railroad. 



A community house, wherever possible, 

 should be located on the railroad to elimi- 

 nate the expense of hauling packed fruit 

 to the car and to permit the loading of 

 cars when weather conditions prevent haul- 

 ing. 



WOOD, brick, concrete, or tile arc used 

 in the construction of packing 

 houses, the choice of materials being de- 

 termined by the cost and the fire risk. As 



