The Bulletin. 17 



must be uniform in color, size and degree of ripeness. They should also 

 be entirely free from insect injuries, the marks of disease, bruises, or any 

 other defacements or blemishes. When fruits answering these require- 

 ments are well packed in suitable packages and placed on sale they never 

 have to go begging for a purchaser. Second-grade fruit should also have 

 a certain degree of uniformity regarding size, color and ripeness, and 

 should not be noticeably marked by insect or fungous injury, nor by 

 bruises or other blemishes. Fruits of this grade, when carefully packed, 

 often sell for a good price. "Culls" are those specimens that fail to 

 answer all the requirements of either of the other two grades. Unless 

 there is an unusually strong demand on the market, fruit of this kind 

 had best be kept at home. "Culls" or inferior apples, when mixed with 

 good specimens, damage and almost always ruin the sale of the fruit. 



Next to grading, the packing of apples is the most important operation 

 connected with their production and sale. If there is one thing more 

 than another that damages the reputation of any fruit section it is the 

 use of the commonly-called "barrel crate" as a package for placing apples 

 on the market. The best place a fruit grower can use this package is on 

 his wood pile. One had far better give his apples away than to market 

 them, or attempt to market them, in this way. JSTo matter how fine the 

 fruit, or how careful the grading and packing, apples that are shipped 

 in packages of this kind never reach the buyer in a first-class, attractive 

 condition. The fruit cannot be packed firmly, it is rattled and banged 

 against the sharp edges of the slats, and what is not ruined in this way 

 is cut into by the knife of every man handling the package en route 

 from shipper to buyer. As a result, when the armies reach the consumer 

 they are hardly in condition to make a good, first-class grade of cider. 

 The package most universally used, and the one that will answer the 

 requirements of any market is the standard apple barrel. This package 

 contains, approximately, eleven pecks, and when used as a means of 

 placing well-graded and carefully packed apples on the market, the 

 grower is insured of both a profit and a reputation for his fruit. 



Before beginning to pack, see that the barrel is resting on a solid base. 

 If packing in the orchard, provide planks or boards on which to place 

 the barrels while being filled. This keeps the head of the barrel clean 

 and enables the packer to "rack" it to better advantage. "Racking" is 

 the shaking of the barrel from time to time during the packing in order 

 to settle the apples, thus making them fit closer and firmer together. 

 The head or end that is usually opened upon reaching market is placed 

 as the bottom end in filling. Before starting to pack, put in a corrugated 

 apple-barrel cap, as shown in B, Fig. 7, or two or three layers of nicely 

 folded paper. This not only keeps the fruit in better shape, but prevents 

 it from bruising. When this is done the barrel is ready to be "faced." 

 This consists of placing, by hand, from two to three rows of fruit, stem 

 end down. After "facing." the armies are carefully poured in and the 

 barrel frequently shaken, until it is almost full. The last two or three 

 rows may be placed by hand, stem end up. thus "facing" both ends of the 

 package. The last layer of fruit should extend about one inch above 

 the chine of the barrel and be covered either with a corrugated apple- 

 barrel cushion, cap, or with two or three layers of neatly folded paper, 



