June, 191C. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



145 



Best Packages for Tender Fruit Shipments' 



J. M. Oreelman, B.S.A., Dominion Cold Storsge Division, Grimsby, Ont. 



IN peach packages there has been 

 quite a conti'oversy as to just what 

 packages are best. We have tried 

 out a number, namely, the six-quart 

 and eleven-quart Climax baskets, the 

 six-quart and eleven quart Leno bas- 

 kets in the Hunter and Woolverton 

 crates, the Michigan bushel basket, and 

 the Standard peach box. These pack- 

 ages we observed and had others ex- 

 press their opinions on them.- 

 I The method of behavior of the Cli- 

 >niax basket is, in long-distance ship- 

 ■ments, more or less known to us. It is 

 fairly satisfactory under some circum- 

 stances, but it is not a trustworthy 

 package ; that is, it is very easy to put 

 up a dishonest pack. In fact, it is 

 easier to do so than otherwise, and this 

 is not a satisfactory condition, and it is 

 very easily broken, and does not dis- 

 play its contents overly well. 



The Hunter crate is a two-story 

 affair which holds four eleven-quart or 

 six six-quart lenos. It is of rough un- 

 dressed lumber, which rather depreci- 

 ates from its appearance. Further, it 

 is very heavy, weighing about eighty 

 pounds. It is a bulky package, and not 

 an appealing one to look at. Further, 

 it is not altogether satisfactory for 

 long-distance shipments, as the fruit on 

 the top cannot be packed perfectly firm 

 and moves slightly with the motion of 

 the car. A long journey is likely to 

 cause a bruise or soft spot from this 

 rubbing. It may have its use as an ex- 

 press package, but it is not pilfer-proof 

 and is unattractive. Dressing of the 

 wood might help this to a great extent. 



The Woolverton crate is a much more 

 attractive crate. It is smaller and is 

 built in two sizes, for three six-quart 

 or three eleven-quart leno baskets. The 

 cover is solid, of two pieces, and the 

 sides are near the top, which makes it 

 pilfer-proof. It is rather open at the 

 bottom, and so allows for good ventila- 

 tion. It is strong, and yet is not heavy, 

 as it weighs about thirty-five pounds 

 for the six quarts and sixty pounds for 

 the eleven quarts, or maybe a little 

 heavier. It is a much more attractive 

 package, but has the same fault as the 

 Hunter crate, in that the jarring causes 

 trouble from bruising. This package, 

 however, seems to be admirably suited 

 for express shipments of small lots. Its 

 worst fault is that it is too bulky to be 

 of use for carload shipments. That is, 

 you fill your car full and yet have not 

 your minimum weight. This last is 

 also a fault of the Hunter crate. 

 Bushel Baskets. 



There has been an impression gai;i- 

 ing he adway among some fruit grower:! 



•Extract from a paper read at the last annual 

 chuTo" "' **** Ontario Fruit Growers' Asso- 



that the bushel ba'^iket, as used \i\ a 

 number of the Aiuericax; peaeh-grov/iug 

 districts, was just what was needed in 

 'his country. With this idea, we made 

 a shipment of Elberla peaches in 

 bushels to Winnipeg. These were 

 picked hard ripe and packed in these 

 baskets, which had a post in the centre 

 for support and a paper pad over the 

 top for protection. The fruit arrived 

 in Winnipeg in excellent shape, but 

 would not sell. In fact, they hardly 

 brought the freight and icing on them. 



Package Not Satisfactory. 



Here seems a funny state of affairs. 

 The package was attrtictive, in its way; 

 was strong enough, it loaded easily in 

 the ear, was cheap, but the market 

 didn't want it. Why? Well, I simply 

 summed it up this way: Peaches in 

 Winnipeg, as in nearly all the west, are 

 more or less of a luxury, being com- 

 paratively high-priced, and being so 

 they Mere used to them in an expensive 

 package, so did not take to these. They 

 expect their expensive fruit put up 

 right, and will pay for it that way. This 

 practically throws the bushel basket 

 out as a peach basket for long-distance 

 shipments, because it means that, al- 

 though it may carry the peaches in 

 good shape, by the time they go some 

 distance, they are too expensive to 

 bring good prices in a large package, 

 because people can't afford to pay a 

 high price for a lot. 



In the west they desire a high-class 

 package for peaches. We find there 

 the standard western peach box, 181/2 

 by 11V2> and with varying depths from 

 four inches to five inches. Practicallv 



all the peaches that enter the west are 

 in this case, at least all that come in 

 from Washington, Oregon, and British 

 Columbia. In it the peaches are 

 packed in a diagonal pack and are 

 wrapped in tissue paper. This seems to 

 be the ideal package. It is strong, at- 

 tractive, displays the fruit well, if pro- 

 perly packed, loads easily in cars, is ex- 

 cellent for express shipment, pilfer- 

 proof, with cleats, allows plenty of ven- 

 tilation, is the most efficient to handle, 

 if trucks are used, and it is not hard to 

 pack. It is, in my opinion, the ideal 

 package for peaches. I believe it is 

 also the only package in which peaches 

 can be shipped to England. 



I have always heard it said that to 

 put peaches in England the shipper 

 ate up all his profits in packing. Ail I 

 saw packed were certainly eating up a 

 bunch of profits in excelsior and simi- 

 lar material. 



Seeing no reason why hard ripe El- 

 bertas should not go to England in a 

 straight commercial pack, last summer, 

 when the Grimsby Co-operative Grow- 

 ers were shipping three cars of pears to 

 Glasgow, we put in thirteen cases of 

 Elbertas packed commercially, that is, 

 just wrapped in paper. To make it per- 

 fectly commercial, I had one of the 

 girls pack them up, and I told her 

 nothing except that I wanted them 

 packed. Although there was some 

 waste in the pears, the peaches arrived 

 in excellent shape and sold for four- 

 pence to sixpence apiece. 



For shipment to the Canadian west, 

 I would use for strawberries and sweet 

 cherries the British Columbia full pint 

 Hallock crate ; for sour cherries, the 

 six-quart Climax basket, and for 

 peaches the Standard western peach 

 box. 



Handling strawberries on a commercial plantation. Note the type of picker's basket used. 



