HOW FRUIT SHOULD BE PACKED 



'' Y^ H/\T Ontario fruit growers are anx- 

 A ious to learn the best systems of 

 packing fruit in boxes was evidenced at the 

 Canadian National Exhibition by the inter- 

 ested crowd of fruit growers present at the 

 packing demonstrations given in the dairy 

 building by Mr. B. T. Boies, an expert 

 packer from Coldstream Ranch, Vernon, B. 

 C. The growers were not satisfied to mere- 

 ly watch the w^ork, but persisted in asking 

 questions. These were answered by Mr. 

 A. McNeill, chief of the fruit division, Ot- 

 tawa, or by Mr. P. J. Carey, Dominion Fruit 

 Inspector, Toronto. 



Mr. Boies showed that he had mastered 

 the art of packing by the neatness and dis- 

 patch with which he handled the uneven 

 samples that he was compelled to use. By 

 placing in rows of two, three, four, five, etc., 

 according to size, and the fruit on edge or 

 on end, there are a total of about 60 differ- 

 ent arrangements. The main point is to 

 select that arrawgement which will fill the 

 box sufficiently full for putting on the cover 

 and leave no slack. 



Mr. McNeill was asked if he would recom- 

 mend making large shipments in boxes. He 



replied he would not unless he had large 

 quantities of first-class fruit. In British 

 Columbia the growers use nothing but 

 boxes and find their use pays. They should, 

 he thought, also pay in Ontario. The Brit- 

 ish people are accustomed to our apples 

 reaching them in barrels, and as they are 

 slow to change they would look on our boxed 

 apples with suspicion. The result at first 

 would be they would not sell. It will take 

 a few seasons to make Canadian boxed fruit 

 popular on the British market. 



In reply to a question regarding the use 

 of foreign materials to face the box, Mr. 

 McNeill explained that British Columbia 

 packers use nothing between the face and 

 the apple, but he said that it might be ad- 

 visable to use pulp paper. Excelsior is 

 condemned all along the Pacific slope. 



THE BOXES ON EXHIBITION. 



The boxes which had been in competition 

 in the fruit building were criticized. Some 

 packers had not used boxes of standard 

 size. Others used paper fillers to avoid 

 spaces. If the fruit did not come to the top 

 of the box several folds of newspaper were 

 put in instead. Other exhibitors made 



How Fruit^Is Packed in British Columbia— Note the Different Arrangements of the Rows 



375 



