FRUIT PACKING 



WM. WILSON, LONDON, ONT. 



' I ' HE article in the July edition of The 

 JL Horticulturist on fancy packing, from 

 the pen of Mr. Linus Woolverton, shows 

 considerable research as far as it goes, and 

 opens a question on which a great deal 

 more mig.it be said. As I have had some 

 experience in fruit packages it affords me 

 pleasure to lay before your readers my solu- 

 tion of the package problem. 



A fruit package should provide every ele- 

 ment necessary for the handling and trans- 

 portation of all kinds of fruit in convenient 

 form from the orchard to the consumer in 

 perfect condition, irrespective of distance, 

 and such a package should be procurable at 

 a price which would enable every fruit 

 grower to use it. The first requisite of a 

 fruit package is to be easily adaptable for 



quick packing and handling, and to be 

 strong enough to amply protect even the 

 best fruit from the rapid rough and tumble 

 treatment it often receives during transit, 

 both by rail and steamship, to its destina- 

 tion. 



The next consideration is the size and ap- 

 pearance of the package. It should be 

 handy with smooth surface for printing or 

 advertising, and be of good pleasing sym- 

 metry as a box. The size, however, is a 

 most important feature if the package is to 

 be universal and equally applicable to all the 

 various kinds of fruit. It must necessarily 

 conform perfectly with the present standard 

 units of fruit measurement (as used be- 

 tween buyer and seller) without the slight- 



est confusion or inconvenience, and in view 

 of these considerations the imperial bushel 

 of 2i^ quarts has been selected as the best 

 possible size for a universal fruit package. 

 The imperial bushel is in harmony with the 

 size of apple box recommended at the last 

 annual meeting of the Ontario Fruit Grow- 

 ers' Association, but is much more compre- 

 hensive as a fruit package. 



To be symmetrical as weil as economical, 

 the outside length of the package should be 

 exactly double the width, so that four boxes 

 may be piled either lengthwise or crosswise 

 in a perfect square without any jutting or 

 loss of space. This is a very necessary 

 quaHfication also for piling large quantities 

 of boxes with sufficient firmness, either by 



rail or steamship transit or on the wharf, 

 and at the same time boxes should be so con- 

 structed that fresh air will always circulate 

 freely between each box, no matter how 

 large the pile of boxes may be. Further, 

 the outside measurements of fruit boxes 

 should be in given proportion to the cubic 

 ton, thus when 25 fruit cases measure just 

 40 cubic feet (one cubic ton) it is very easy 

 to calculate or check ocean freight. 



With regard to economy in shipping car- 

 loads of empty boxes to growers the form 

 and size of a fruit package should be so ar- 

 ranged that they will nest one inside the 

 other, although all the same size. Such an 

 arrangement reduces the freight on empty 

 cases to a minimum. 



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