The Kent Commercial Fruit Show. 147 



English apple to which he has been attracted, possibly by the 

 method of packing and of display, it may be confidently asserted 

 that he will alwaj^s demand English grown fruit. 



But if this system of boxing is to be successful, the Com- 

 mei'cial Fruit Shows already held have shown that there are 

 several cardinal points to be emphasised. 

 ' First, as to the varieties of apples which are worth boxing. 

 First class, well-coloured fruit of the following varieties : — 

 Worcester Pearmain, Alington Pippin, Blenheim Orange, Bis- 

 marck, moderate sized Newton Wonder, Wellington, James 

 Grieve, Beauty of Bath, Winter Queening, Gascoynes Scarlet, 

 Cox's Orange Pippin, show best in boxes ; whilst Bramley's 

 Seedling, Lanes Prince Albert and similar types of apple are 

 unsuitable for this method of display. 



, ^'Second, as to the method of packing. Should the fruit be 

 packed bare or with wood wool or some other packing material .'' 

 The use of packing material obscures the appearance of the 

 fruit, and may render the package untidy, and if the apples are 

 properly packed they will travel well without such padding. 

 The great object is to secure the proper degree of tight packing 

 — if packed too tight, then the process of packing will cause 

 bruising ; if packed too loose the fruit will bruise by concussion 

 in transit. It is the custom to pack American and Colonial 

 apples with a " bulge " ; that is, the fruit is so packed that the 

 top and bottom of the box are somewhat convex, to ensure the 

 tightness of the fruit inside the box. Unless railway com- 

 panies will load and unload such boxes on their sides, bruising 

 is bound to result, but shipping and railway companies know 

 how to handle imported fruit, and they must be taught how to 

 handle home grown fruit. The packing of many of the 

 exhibits at the Kent Fruit Show was certainly not perfect, but 

 showed a very great advance on that of the preceding year — 

 — the number of badly packed boxes being considerably smaller 

 whilst the best packed boxes were of a much higher standard. 



Thirdly, the boxes must be non-retui-nable. Every com- 

 mercial grower knows the difficulties of getting back empties, 

 and the complications of accounts which may be engendered 

 by the use of a returnable box are not worth the growers' 

 attention, and also in the case of a box which is nailed, it is 

 almost impossible to use it a second time with advantage. 



It will undoubtedly be some time before the market is 

 accustomed to English boxed fruit, but the success of the 

 imported boxed fruit is an established fact, and there is no 

 reason why this should remain a monopoly. 

 01 The question of the best commercial package for apples is 

 certainly open to discussion ; it is not dogmatised that the box 

 will always be the best, but of the packages suggested up to the 



