PICKING AND PACKING SMALL FRUIT FOR MARKET. 2JI 



The President : I think this demand for plums in quantity 

 conies from the idea uppermost in the minds of the people that buy 

 them, which is to keep the best plums that we are growing, and 

 which we are trying to make the equal of any plums grown any- 

 where, down to the level of the old wild plum and thus fight against 

 what we are trying to do. They do not stop to ask how much there 

 is. in a 25 cent basket, and I think after a while it will make no dif- 

 ference. 



Mr. C. H. True (Iowa) : We like the sixteen quart crates 

 the best. I find customers will pay a dollar for a sixteen quart 

 crate sooner than they will pay for a basket holding the same 

 amount. A dollar for a market basketful of plums seems high 

 compared with a sixteen quart crate. They show up very nicely and 

 handle conveniently in those sixteen quart crates. We sell them in 

 those sixteen quart crates at from two to two and one-half dollars 

 a bushel. Of course, the plum market with us this past season has 

 been better on account of the scarcity of apples. 



Mr. Lord: I have shipped a good many plums in those crates, 

 and where you ship to a commission house and depend upon them to 

 distribute you find a better market. Shipping in crates it costs a 

 good deal more. I get my baskets for three and three-fourths cents 

 apiece, while crates cost one cent a box and eight cents per crate; 

 so it makes a considerable difference in the cost of the package. 



Mr. Bush: This society ought to take hold with other states 

 and try to secure uniformity in the size of package for plums. We 

 can grow them all over this state and grow them of excellent qual- 

 ity. If we could have a uniform package in which to market our 

 plums they would bring us a good deal more money. We have 

 handled our plums in much the same way as Mr. Lord has done, 

 using half bushel' drop handle baskets, but when we began to ship 

 them we had to pay extra express. 



Mr. O. W. Moore: I agree with Mr. Bush in what he says 

 about a uniform package for plums. I think this society should 

 take some measures to adopt a uniform package for- the state of 

 Minnesota for small shipments, not over half or one-third bushel. 

 Have it understood that that is the plum package of the state. I 

 think our plums could be handled to much better advantage under 

 such an arrangement than they are now. 



Mr. Older: I have seen nice Minnesota plums sold for 75 

 cents per bushel. The grocer pays the farmers 75 cents a bushel 

 for plums, no matter what they are. 



Mr. Oliver Gibbs : Any one who takes notice of the man- 

 ner in which our fruit is sold in grocery stores in our small towns, 

 and then goes to a large market and sees how it is handled and dis- 

 posed of, must be impressed with the fact that it is time for the 

 horticultural society of this state to take this matter up. Transcen- 

 dent crab apples have been selling for 25 cents a bushel and a slow 

 sale at that, when with very little labor they would bring $2.00 a 

 bushel. There is no labor we can do on the farm that will pay so 

 well as to put it into the marketing of our fruits. It will pay to 

 handle anvthing well that we have to sell, but this is more particu- 



