MARKETING THE CROP 167 



The bushel basket would seem to be the last thing 

 in the world in which to handle peaches, but it has 

 been found very satisfactory in certain northern 

 markets, particularly in Michigan and western New 

 York, where a good deal of fruit is shipped, even to 

 considerable distances, in this package. The basket 

 is made with staves and not braided and is supplied 

 with a substantial wooden cover which tends to pro- 

 tect the fruit from damage in shipment. 



Recently the California, Oregon and Colorado 

 shippers have been sending fancy peaches to the 

 eastern markets in a special box, measuring 5x11^ 

 X i8y^ inches inside. The ends are made of ^-inch 

 stuff, and bottoms and sides of ^-inch pine. The 

 fruit is nearly always paper wrapped, carefully 

 graded and packed. It may be shipped and handled 

 long distances in this package without damage. The 

 package, however, is a trifle expensive and should 

 be used only for very fancy trade. 



All of these packages are what are known as the 

 gift packages, that is, they are used up by the con- 

 sumer and are never returned to the shipper. In 

 fact, the returnable fruit packages have now almost 

 wholly gone out of use in the United States and 

 Canada. 



TRANSPORTATION 



The railroad service cuts a big figure in the 

 handling of large peach crops. Closely linked with 

 the railroad transportation is the refrigerator car 

 service. Of course, every manager of a peach 

 orchard must find transportation for his crop ; and 

 where the refrigerator service has to be depended 

 upon, he must make the necessary arrangements for 

 .this also; but these are general questions upon 



