FRUIT PACKAGES. 2ig 



FRUIT PACKAGES. 



A DISCUSSION. 



Mr. A. K. Bush: For apples we have used the bushel 

 basket with wide slat covers. The}- do not cost much, 

 we buy them for about a shilling with the covers. Ap- 

 ples ship very nicely in these baskets. We picked from 

 a couple of Wealthy trees that have been out in the hog orchard 

 a dozen or fifteen years twenty-two of those bushel baskets ; we 

 shipped them to the city, and they brought us about one dollar a 

 basket. This was a good profit for a couple of trees. The baskets 

 were emptied, the covers put on and sent back to us. We filled 

 and shipped them three times, although we are 125 miles from the 

 city. The baskets can always be used, and they are sold the farmers 

 at low price ; there is practically no cost for the container, 

 and the fruit ships very nicely. I believe it is better than the box 

 that comes to us from the coast or the barrel that they use in the 

 east. Barrels are rather expensive, costing sometimes as high as 

 sixty cents apiece. The barrel is too large a package anyway. If 

 your fruit is not nicely packed it becomes badly bruised before it 

 reaches its destination. I think the baskets are the practical con- 

 tainer for the nearby market, and they suit the grower, dealer and 

 consumer better than anything else we can use. That has been my 

 experience. If any one has had an experience different from that or 

 has a better method, we should like to hear it. I believe we can open 

 up a profitable discussion along this line, get the experience of some 

 of our shippers and growers and show that it is worth money to 

 them and that their time is well spent in coming here. 



The Chairman : I like this style of package Mr. Bush has 

 spoken of very much, and I know of a number of cases where it 

 has been used to excellent advantage. 



Mr. Seth Kenney : I would like to inquire of Mr. Bush where 

 those packages can be obtained in quantity. 



Mr. Bush : There are quite a number of dealers here in the city 

 that are handling them. I got mine here in the city. 



Mr. Benjamin : Have you had any experience in the use of 

 paper boxes in shipping strawberries, or are they just as good as 

 wooden boxes? 



Mr. Bush : My experience is limited ; I have used wooden boxes 

 altogether. Has any one had experience in shipping small fruits, 

 such • as strawberries, raspberries, etc., in paper boxes ? I have 

 never used them. 



Mr. Benjamin : There were a few of those paper boxes sold 

 in our town last year, but I never bought any of them. I would 

 like to know, however, how they work. 



Mr. Nils Anderson : I have used a few of the wax lined boxes 

 for strawberries and don't like them. 



The Chairman : What is the trouble ? 



Mr. Anderson : They were not stiff enough, according to my 

 notion. 



