166 MARKET GARDENING. 



rapid removal of these exhalations, as they are in the open 

 air while the fruit or vegetable remains growing, pre- 

 serves them in good condition, but to keep the vegetables 

 in a close, confined atmosphere hastens fermentation and 

 decay. The packages should be small, as bulk is a hin- 

 drance to ventilation. Barrels are bad packages ; better 

 use double sized flat crates, with a partition. Costly 

 refrigeration is not necessary if thorough ventilation can 

 be obtained, and it cannot be doubted that ice cold refrig- 

 eration ruins the flavor of fruits and vegetables. Also 

 fruits of hard- wooded plants, as peaches, grapes and 

 pears, and, we may add, strawberries, require more care- 

 ful handling than vegetables, but no fruit will require 

 more careful treatment, critical sorting and packing than 

 tomatoes, egg-plants and cucumbers. These the trucker 

 should pick when of full size, and just as the ripening 

 process is about to set in, which condition is indicated by 

 a distention of the tissues and a disposition to change 

 color. No trucker who expects to make a reputation 

 should ship small or defective stock ; in fact he should 

 put himself in the place of a city purchaser, and consider 

 what he would buy from a green grocer or provision 

 dealer, and ship only such quality. 



Crates and Packages. — When packing vegetables 

 or fruit for market, do not use close boxes, or even ordi- 

 nary slatted boxes. Well-made ventilated fruit and veg- 

 etable packages can be purchased in every section of the 

 country where market gardening is pursued. Of course, 

 some forms of packages are better than others. Light 

 packages save freight and insure more careful handling. 

 Sorting for Packing. — The sorting of vegetables 

 or fruits for shipment demands so much care that every 

 imperfect specimen should be rejected. The packing 

 should not be done under a broiling sun, but under a 

 shed or tree, so that the goods may be cooled off by every 

 passing breeze, for, if packed in temperature of 00° or 



