Apple Packs and Packing 



H. M. Winslow, Provincial Horticulturist, Victoria, B.C. 



WHILE a packed box of apples 

 looks simple enough, it must ful- 

 fil certain requirements to be 

 considered well put up. First, and most 



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A Two-Two, Three-Four Pack— Fifty-six 

 Apples in a Box. 



important, the pack must be firm. There 

 must be no room for the fruit to shift 

 in any way. It is often possible to stand 

 a box on end without the cover nailed 

 without any of the apples falling out. 

 This is usually impossible if each apple 

 does not touch all those surrounding it 

 in the proper way. 



The bulge or swell is also important. 

 The idea is that as the apples lose moist- 

 ure and shrink, the cover which has been 

 pressed down tightly over the bulge will 

 contract and continue to hold the apples 

 firmly. The bulge is secured by turn- 

 ing the apples when packing, so that 

 the slightly longer diameter is vertical. 

 Doing this becomes second nature by 

 practise. It is sometimes necessary to 

 turn the end apples on their side, in the 

 end-on packs, in order to get this just 

 right. 



In order to create some pressure on 

 the end rows of apples, the fruit at both 

 ends should be from one-quarter to three- 

 eighths of an inch above the top of the 

 box. The cover presses this down that 

 much quite easily without bruising, and 

 the elasticity of the fruit will keep it 

 tight for some considerable time. 



There is at present some reaction 

 against the bulges of one and one-half 

 to two inches common a few years ago. 

 Experience has shown that a bulge of 

 one and one-quarter inches, counting 

 both top and bottom, is sufficient. More 



is necessary with the end-on packs than 

 with the side packs. This applies also 

 to the height of the ends. 



Regularity of pack is very important. 

 When an irregularly packed box is open- 

 ed at the side, it shows how the packer 

 may start to pack a box in one size, 

 and may change half-way through the 

 box. Where the change is made apples 

 are liable to be very much bruised, on 

 which account this practice is to be con- 

 demned, and the application of the term 

 "stacked pack" indicates the essential 

 dishonesty of this proceeding, which is 

 poor packing and worse morality. 



ATTRACTIVENESS ESSENTIAL 



The attractiveness of the finished pack 

 is very essential. Our apples rely a 

 grrat deal on their appearance for high- 

 priced sale, and the finished pack should 

 be attractive in the regularity of size, 

 smoothness of the wrap, and the align- 

 ment of the fruit in the box. 



The above points deal only with the 

 mechanical operation of packing. Not 

 less essential, but even more so, is the 

 grading of the fruit to size and to color. 

 Grading to size is usually done in Brit- 

 ish Columbia by the packer himself, and 

 he should use every effort to make the 

 box uniform throughout. A good packer 

 must be conscientious, quick, and accu- 

 rate. The ability to learn to pack fruit 

 is natural, and a big percentage of 

 people do not possess it. Packers are 

 born, not made. 



Our apple box, twenty by eleven by 

 ten inches, is the result of many experi- 



ments, some twenty or more sizes hav- 

 ing been extensively used in California 

 before the present sizes were finally 

 adopted. The result is that practically 

 all sizes and shapes of apples can be 

 put into our boxes in the diagonal packs. 

 In the very large sizes it is necessary to 

 pack some apples on the square, three 

 across and three deep in the box. The 

 square packs, as well as the offset, we 

 know from actual trial, are usually un- 

 necessary. The buyers are beginning to 

 be suspicious of packers who still insist 

 on their use, and quite rightly so. 



In the accompanying illustrations 

 there are shown the principal diagonal 

 packs. A study of these will show the 

 beautiful regularity of the diagonal sys- 

 tem. The flexibility of this pack to meet 

 the requirements of apples of different 

 sizes is learned only by experience, but 

 as soon as a packer grasps the under- 

 lying principles of the diagonal pack 

 there is no incentive to the use of the 

 older and undesirable methods. 



THE DIFFERENT PACKS 



For the two-one diagonal pack the 

 apples must be too large to fit in three 

 in a straight line across the box. Start 

 with two apples, one in each corner, then 

 one between these, then two at sides, 

 and so on. Second tier — Start with one 

 in the centre of the end, over blank 

 space, then two, and so on, covering 

 the blank spaces. The third tier comes 

 directly over the first, covering the blank 

 spaces in the second tier. All two-one 

 packs go on the side. 



A Two-Two, Six-Six Pack— Ninety-tix 

 Apples to the Box. 



20B 



A Two-Two, Five-Six Pack— Eighty-eight 

 Apples to the Box, 



