Picking and Packing 161 



PICKING RECEPTACLES 



Boxes, cups and stands. 



In commercial operations, berries are picked into the 

 same kind of box that is used for shipping them, whether 

 they are graded in the field or at a packing shed. For a 

 local market, nine to twenty pound grape baskets are 

 used, with a tin can at one end for culls. Some growers 

 who do not grade give each picker a sixteen or twenty- 

 four quart crate, with the picker's number stamped upon 

 it ; when this has been filled, the picker carries it to the 

 shed. In the Pacific Northwest, growers who find it 

 impossible to secure the right kind of help to grade in the 

 field, pick into a specially constructed stand or tray. 

 This is sixteen inches long, ten inches wide, two inches 

 deep at one side and four inches at the other; it holds 

 about six quarts. The legs extend below the bottom 

 three inches and one inch respectively, so that the top 

 is level when the stand is set on the ground. The four- 

 inch side is hinged at the bottom and secured at the top 

 by hooks, so it can be dropped down at the grading 

 table. This picking tray is lined loosely with white oil- 

 cloth so that it can be easily cleaned. 



Carriers. 



When boxes are used, these are placed in a light handled 

 carrier, also called a tray, picker's stand or "handy." 

 In hot weather, each picker is provided with one carrier ; 

 in cool weather two. The most common size holds four 

 boxes, but six, eight, ten and twelve box carriers are 

 used. The larger the carrier, the greater the danger 

 that the fruit picked first will be injured by the sun. 

 The grower should provide at least twice as many car- 



