A NEW PACKING MATERIAL FOR FRUITS. 



67 



ing the fruit, and the failure to perform either of 

 these functions properly is evidence that the 

 soil must be enriched or the orchard will no 

 longer be profitable. 



The rootlets that absorb the plant food neces- 

 sary to the growth of the tree and the perfection 

 of its fruit are found away from its base ; hence 



the fertilizer should always be applied broadcast 

 over the entire orchard. 



The practice of piling up manure arouud the 

 base of the tree is about as sensible as it would 

 be to apply a poultice of bread and milk on a 

 man's stomach to alleviate hunger. 



A NEW PACKING MATERIAL FOR FRUITS. 



N interesting experiment has just taken 



*^ place in the matter of packing fruits in 



% the colony of Victoria for shipment to 



ijjgjs^ England, says the Gardener's Chronicle. 



As is pretty generally known, apples and 

 pears are now brought from the Cape of Good 

 Hope and from Australian colonies in boxes 

 holding a bushel, which are stored on board 

 ship in cool chambers. These chambers, or 

 refrigerators, have been provided by the steam- 

 ship companies at a considerable outlay of 

 money. The fruits are merely wrapped in 

 tissue and placed in the boxes. 



Under this system apples have for the most 

 part come very successfully, but pears have been 

 less satisfactory. Occasionally, there have been 

 pears from the Antipodes that have reached 

 this country in a sound condition, but numer- 

 ous consignments have proved to be of little 

 value, and the commission agent is never able 

 to speak of such fruits or gauge their value un- 

 til they have been unpacked. The freight per 

 bushel from Victoria to London for apples or 

 pears so packed and stored on board ship in 

 cool chambers is 3s. gd. 



Such are the circumstances of the present 

 system, and the amount of freight paid for pass- 

 age. 



And now for the experiment, for intelligence 

 of which we are indebted to Mr. J. B. Thomas, 

 a well-known fruit salesman in Covent Garden, 

 to whom the fruits which have been the sub- 

 jects of experiment where addressed. 



Instead of packing the apples wrapped in 

 tissue only, in the case of several bushels that 

 have recently arrived in London by the ss. 



" VVakood," a quantity of asbestos, or a pre- 

 paration of this substance, has been used. 

 The fruits were wrapped in tissue as formerly, 

 and afterwards embedded in the asbestos, each 

 fruit being perfectly surrounded by this sub- 

 stance. Upon unpacking the case, the asbes- 

 tos appeared to be caked, but it was easily 

 broken up, and then appeared almost like flour. 

 We should suppose, therefore, that the fruits 

 would be airtight under such conditions, and 

 this will account for the fact that as we saw 

 them they were perfectly sound, and in excel- 

 lent condition, although five months had elapsed 

 since they were packed in the boxes. The ap- 

 ples were grown by Mr. J. R. Warren, Mount 

 Alexander Orchard, Harcourt, and Mr. J. M. 

 Ely, Rosehill Gardens, Harcourt, both large 

 Victorian fruit growers. They were packed and 

 brought to this country under the direction of 

 Mr. George Pontin, Church House, Yapton, 

 Sussex. The apples were gathered and packed 

 previous to May 5 last year, but owing to some 

 objection, we believe, on the part of the steam- 

 ship companies, there was a delay of two months 

 or more before shipment, and even then they 

 travelled by the Cape route. The companies, 

 naturally perhaps, object to the introduction of 

 a new system of packing fruits that may render 

 unnecessary the cool chambers that have cost 

 so much money to provide. But such objec- 

 tions will, no doubt, be overcome, and if a syn- 

 dicate be formed, as is now proposed, the sys- 

 tem will be given a conclusive trial. The new 

 system, should it answer to expectations, will 

 possess several advantages. The fruit may then 

 be stored in the " hold " of the ship, and the 



