194 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



ed to was the late Mr. Da\i(] Dullcy, Mhokept the 

 lai'ge £)-uit-shop in Covent Garden, formerly oc- 

 cupied by the late Mrs. Grange. The axiom 

 about "pre.ssure, &c." was, he assured me, the 

 best advice in few words that could be given ; and 

 we have for many years had ample opportunity of 

 proving the truth of Mr, Dulley's advice. 



His opinion was, as to material, that few things 

 excelled soft hay, or, as the Londoners teim it, 

 "rowen j" suqli being for the most part the second 

 cut or aftermath from grass lands of a somewhat 

 finer character than ordinary. Nevertheless, he did 

 not confine all fruit-packing to this material alone, 

 but mexeiy pointed to it as at least a useful ad- 

 junct in all fruit-Tpncking. 



At the same period we called at Gunter's in or- 

 der to get their opinion ; there we were told, that 

 sawdust or bran weie capital materials for peach- 

 packing ; the fofmer from white and flavourless 

 wood, such as the lime, horse chestnut, &c., &,e. 

 The soundness of the last advice has always ap- 

 peared questionable, especially as to railroad trav- 

 elling ; the sudden and severe jerks on which would 

 seem to require that some body of a more yield- 

 ing character should be placed around the fruit. 



Some persons are very partial to the use of cot- 

 ton, wool, or "wadding ;" some to dry and thrash- 

 ed moss ; others use paper shavings from the sta- 

 tioners ; the latter being for the most part the 

 edgings removed from writing paper during the 

 squaring or finishing process v,e suppose. These 

 paper shavings are, indeed, a truly good article, 

 and perhaps are better* for grape packing than 

 any other material. 



Having thus "broken the ice," as far as first 

 principles are concerned, we must now beg to be 

 a little more explicit, and to come home at once 

 to the details ; we must crave our readers' patience 

 whilst we pack three ideal boxes of strawberries, 

 grapes, and peaches. 



Strawberries. — Having provided a shallow 

 box or tin of three inches in depth, clear inside 

 measure, we will place, at least, one inch of dry 

 thrashed green moss over the bottom : moss, from 

 which, after thrashing, all dirt and dust have been 

 completely ejected. This must be pressed as 

 close as hands can make it ; indeed, made firm and 

 equal. And, now. let a piece of fine and soft cap- 

 paper be placed double, and perfectly even, for a 

 bed for the strawberries. One of the best straw- 

 berry-packers we ever knew used to place a layer 

 of nettle leaves (which had been gathered two or 

 three days and become very pliant) over the cap- 

 paper ; and exceedingly well it answered. These 

 things done, let the samemodeof packing, revers- 

 ed, proceed, until the box is quite full ; so that 

 the topping-up will be a facsimile of the bottom- 

 ing, only, at- before observed, reversed. And now 

 we may fairly nail down or close the lid, and rest 

 assured that they will travel well — from the Land's 

 End to London 



Grapes.— We must now change our tactics, for 



we shall of course require both a deeper box and 

 a stronger material ; the latter partly on account 

 of the much increased weight, and consequently 

 pressure. Grapes pack best, as we think, in a 

 sort of diagonal position — not quite flat, but near- 

 ly so ; of course the stock end in the ascendant. 

 The box being ready, and sufficiently roomy — four 

 inches deeper than the bunch when in its recumb- 

 ent position— two inches at least of the while pa- 

 per shavings may be placed in the bottom, tuckmg- 

 them somewhat close, but not tight. If any of 

 the paper remains in masses, as cut from the quires, 

 it must be separated into individual strips. I'he 

 best way now, in our opinion, is to surround each 

 bunch as they are placed in the box with silver or 

 tissue paper ; this must be placed gently, and some- 

 what loosely, round the bunch, avoiding carefully all 

 friction ; and now a little extra paper shavings 

 may be so placed as to form a sort of nest for the 

 bunch, and this so managed, as that when the 

 bunch with its paper is laid down there will be no 

 occasion to move or to handle it again. As they 

 are thus successively placed, a little paper must 

 be introduced here and there as a wedge, or prop, 

 to jtrevent the bunch from slipping. 



When the bunches are very large, or possess 

 huge shoulders, some little pillows or cushions 

 may be introduced between them and the body of 

 the bunch ; occasionally these may be formed by 

 enclosing small portions of the paper shavings in 

 the silver paper, thrusting such in any situation 

 where a great weight of berries are likely to 

 infringe on each other. The bunches being all 

 thus placed, some more of the little cushions may 

 be thrust here and there over the general surface, 

 so placing them as to render it impossible for the 

 bunch to move in any direction. The surface be- 

 ing thus brought level, nothing remains but to fill 

 up the box with the paper shavings, taking care 

 that it is quite full, so that the lid in fastening 

 down will have to be compressed a little. The 

 thrashed moss may, if necessary, be substituted 

 for the paper shavings ; we are not aware which 

 is best, but confess to a partiality for the shavings ; 

 such, however, must not be coarse — the finer the 

 better, and from thin white paper. 



Peaches. — For these, we think, the soft or row- 

 an hay not to be excelled. We have repeatedly 

 sent the large peaches before named to the Chis- 

 wick exhibitions, with scarcely a blemish ; and 

 as such were much admired by the public, and on 

 one occasion their packing made the subject of a 

 leading article in the Chronicle, -we cannot do bet- 

 ter than detail the precise mode of doing so on 

 those occasions. 



The boxes were made exactly eight inches in 

 depth ; this allowed two inches of the packing ma- 

 terial below the fruits, and two inches, or nearly 

 so, above : thus, four inches at least were allowed 

 for the thickness of the peach. Our boxes were pe- 

 titioned-ofT into cells, measuring about five inches 

 square on the surface ; one, of course, apportioned 



