POINTERS ON THE PACKING OF FRUIT 



ALEX. C. BRIGGS, BURLINGTON, ONT, 



NOW the season is approaching for 

 the packing of apples for the ex- 

 port trade, a sketch of the plan I have 

 adopted and which seems to have been suc- 

 cessful both here and in the European mar- 

 kets may be of interest. 



The idea of a uniform packing case is a 

 good one. The case should be lo x ii x 

 20 inches, inside measure, and it would be 

 well if all growers could adopt it, but in 

 some cases our markets prefer the 40 pound 

 case, so we are obliged to give them what 

 they want. The present ordinary case, as 

 now made, is anything but an ideal box, as 

 it has many serious objections. I handled 

 many thousands of these cases last season, 

 and it was a constant source of loss and an- 

 noyance, as unless the ends were reinforced 

 there were many breakages even before the 

 boxes were sent on their long journey. A 

 stronger box is needed in order that our 

 fruit may arrive at its destination in good 

 condition. There are other serious objec- 

 tions to this case, including the fact that 

 there is no protection for the bulging por- 

 tion. It has, however, its good points, and 

 we must make the most of them' until we get 

 something better. 



THE PACKING. 



All exporters of apples in cases well know 

 there is a decided objection to the use of 

 much packing material of any kind, and 

 more especially excelsior, unless it is kept 

 entirely clear of the apples. With the ob- 

 ject in view, therefore, of filling the box 

 with apples, I have discarded the packing 

 material on the face of the box, and have 

 substituted a piece of pulp board, about the 

 size of the inside of the box. On this pulp 

 board our name and residence is given. 

 This affords a grand opportunity for origi- 

 nal advertising, which could be made good 

 use of by any person so inclined. Fancy 

 shelving paper is placed on the pulp board. 



Some who read this will perhaps think it 

 expensive and foolish to go to the trouble 

 of putting all tins fancy work on such com- 

 mon fruit as apples, and they may claim the 

 apples will not taste any better, all of which 

 may be perfectly true. At the same time, 

 it is a well known fact that apples are not so 

 common in Europe as some people suppose, 

 and that fruit (no matter how good it may 

 be) put up in a careless way, will not com- 

 pete in the market along with the fruit put 

 up in a neat, attractive and clean manner. 

 The man who is alert to his own interest, 

 and also to the interest of this " Lady of the 

 Sun," as well as " Lady of the Snows," 

 will not be so penny wise as to refrain from 

 making his fruit packages as clean, neat and 

 tasty as possible. 



THE NEXT STEP. 



After the fancy shelving paper is placed 

 in the stems are clipped off and the apples 

 are faced in two sizes as near 23^ and 2^ 

 inches as possible. They are placed in 

 separate boxes, which are marked with a 

 stamp, " Minn size," 23^ inches or 2^ 

 inches as the size may be. The case is then 

 filled as closely as possible. If the apples 

 are of a tender variety and first class, care 

 is taken to see every apple is wrapped, ex- 

 cepting those on the face, as it pays well to 

 do so. The apples arrive in better condi- 

 tion and sell for many times more than it 

 costs to wrap them. 



Many growers claim it is utterly impos- 

 sible to do this work at such a busy season. 

 With many no doubt it is. Here is where 

 we see the necessity for a storage and a 

 packing house with expert packers and new 

 methods that will do the work and give the 

 buyers and consumers that uniformity and 

 right packing which they are willing to pay 

 for, and to the grower and packer the right 

 returns which they are entitled to. If 

 growers under present conditions cannot 



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