256 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Speaking upon American exports recently, at a 

 meeting of the Eastern New York Horticultural 

 Society, held in the city of New York, Mr. A. S. 

 Baker, managing director of the International 

 Cold Storage and Lightering Company, of South- 

 ampton, England made the following interesting 

 references to this subject : 



"You ask me what do I recommend. I say, 

 abolish the barrel altogether. It will pay. Why? 

 In the first 'place, you will save 20 per cent, of 

 your freight rates. Now, you know on ships you 

 do not pay for weight ; you pay for measurement. 

 The difference in stowing between a box contain- 

 ing one bushel of apples and a barrel is so great 

 that you will save at the very least 20 per cent, 

 cubic measurement, thus reducing your freight 

 bills very considerably. There is another advan- 

 tage about the box. The apples carry better ; they 

 get on to the market in better condition. They 



i 



EXTRA SEi.E'. : .^^ 



CANADIAN APPLES 



XXX GRADI I 



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EXTRi SEIPCTED 



CANABIAN APPLES 



XXX GRADE 



FV0.L.WOOLVERTON 



GHIMSBY CUT. 



' EXTRA SELECTED 



CANADIAN APPLES 



XXX GRADE i 

 F«L.WOOLVERTON 



BRUIJBT OUT, 



Mso Assnmo 

 I 3aVU9 XXX 



02i3,713S YHlXS 



Fig. 1834. Apple Boxes. 



are altogether more salable. A box measuring 

 22 X ii| to 10^ outside measurement will contain 

 50 lbs. of apples — or one bushel, English standard. 

 The apples can be all wrapped in paper. There 

 is no danger then of contamination from a bad 

 one. There is another thing I will tell you. 

 Apples, when stored away on board ship, contain 

 a considerable amount of latent heat which mani- 

 fests itself in the middle of a barrel, and, no mat- 

 ter how honestly you pack the barrel, the middle 

 will never open as bright as the top or bottom, 

 owing to this heating on the way. With a box 

 this need never happen ; when the box is properly 

 made, it never does. Those who have to handle 

 freight can handle a small box better, and with 

 more care, than a barrel. The danger of bruising 

 is reduced to a minimum, especially with the use 

 of paper around each apple. You ask then, but 

 will it pay us to go to this extra trouble ? That is 

 for yourself to decide. 



"This same box that I describe, packed with 

 such quality of apples as exist in this country, is 

 uniformly worth on the London market fifteen 

 shillings ($3-75). Some of you will remember the 

 returns, and say that yoi: only get eleven shillings 

 (2.75) for your barrels. Gentlemen, this is some- 

 thing for you to think over. Which do you want, 

 eleven shillings for your clumsy barrel of apples, 

 or fifteen shillings for your bushel box? " 



In our opinion Mr. Baker's views on the 

 great advantages of the apple box are to be 

 taken with considerable allowance. The 

 writer has now been using the bushel apple 

 box for many years for exporting fancy apples 

 to Great Britain, and expects to continue its use 

 for special A No. i fruit. Our engraving 

 shows the box, one of them having 

 cover removed to show the method of 

 packing. Every sample is wrapped 

 in thin manilla paper, assorted in 

 to sizes by Wartman's grader, and 

 each box contains apples of uniform 

 diameter. Thus, 2^-inch apples 

 will go four layers deep, four rows 

 wide and eight apples long, to fill a 

 bushel box of 128 apples. 



Now this box is all right for such 

 goods, especially for high-colored 

 Spys, Kings, Cranberry Pippins, or 

 any such fancy varieties ; but it 

 would be absurd to pack ordinary 

 stock in these packages — such a 

 course would injure the trade for 

 fancy stock, increase the number of 

 packages to handle, and lessen the 

 net profits. 

 Many people ride hobbies, and ride them 

 to death ; and we are inclined to think Mr. 

 Baker is a little inclined that way. For our- 

 selves, at all events, after using boxes for 

 ten years for export to England, Scotland 

 and Australia, we intend continuing to use 

 the barrel for ordinary stock. 



To Kill Tree Roots. 



1160. Sir, — What compound or solution of 

 strong and simple nature should I use to perman- 

 ently eradicate tree roots (Lindens and Maples)? 

 My plants last year were a failure owing to these 

 infested and annoying roots. 



Windsor. R. V. Coventry. 



