GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



319 



TERRY'S BUSHEL BOXES. 



BOXES V.S. BASKETS. 



I OH a long time I have been thinking 

 that we ouglit to have sometliing more 

 accurate than a bushel basket— more 

 subslanlial, and less expensive. Bas- 

 kets do not fit np tight together in a 

 wagon ; they won't bear piling one on top 

 of the other, and they cost more than a good 

 stout box. When I read the proof of friend 

 Terry's potato-book I was greatly surprised 

 to think he had been following my own no- 

 tions so fully. The following is t-h'e chapter 

 in regard to these boxes : 



THE USE OF Bl'SIIEL l!OX::s. 



Foi' several yi'iirs 1 liiup bf-en usitiL!- Imslicl boxes 

 for inai-ketin<f oarlv iiotatofs, .wliilf tlic skins slip. 

 and for handliiiu- tlif crop in the Held :ill tlironirli 

 the season. Tliis is one of the ways in uhieh the 

 potato specialist can set ahead of tli(^ small raiser. 

 1 think we handle our crop for less than half of 

 what it used to cost iis before we trot those boxes 

 made. Our l)0.\es • _^ 



Iff. 

 Hand- 

 in the 

 1 iTi the 

 cut. 



The upper cor 

 ners are bound with 

 yalvani/.ed hoop ii-on lo niak 

 pri(^e paid for lliciii was li-oni 

 dred at a bo.v-laclory. The 

 whitewood. Some lisrht wooil 

 course, so as to make Ihcni 

 They need not wei;ih more thn 

 Early in the s('ason, while tlx' 



I stronjr. The 

 s:;.-, (1,1 to s:{ii.()Oaliun- 

 u Odd \ised is most I V 



I should be used, o'f 

 iis liyht as possible. 



II six orseven pounds, 

 skins sli|>. our pot.-.- 



toes are dusand laid (not thrown) into the.se bo.ves, 

 and the bo.\es are covered as fast as tilled. They 

 are then safe from sun and rain till wanted for 

 market. The covers are simply pieces of boards 

 cut about !."> by IS inches. Dufr one day and taken 

 to nuirkel the nc.vt. and set olV in tlie bo.ves at the 

 grocer's, and then set by him into his delivery waf;- 

 on and taken to his customers, the consunier jrets 

 them just as nice and Ifesh as Ilioiifih he raised 

 them himself. I recollect once leaNim;- :!(! l)0.\es at 

 ajiroeei-'s while I went on with the rest (d' mv loa<l 

 to unoth.T place. When I came back he lia.l 'deliv- 

 iTcl c\( i\ linshel to Ids customers, who had orilers 

 in fill- tiKMii. Thc\ were ilui>- in the afternoon, imme- 

 diately covered, and by II o'clock the next day they 

 were in the consumei's cellar, without an>' iiandlinji- 

 or bruisiiifi, and I will warrant the\- ^a\-e satisfac- 

 tion. There is pi idy of demand for nice things at 

 l)ayinM' prices, while ordinary yoods are dull at low 

 I)rices. Some bu>crs, I know, or shippers, df) not 

 seem to aiiiireeiale nice potatoes, c;ir(didly hanilleil; 



It ou 



touches the potatoes. With plenty of these boxes, 

 my men can ilig right along- while I am going to 

 market, and 1 can load up any time in fifteen min- 

 utes. There is some dead weight to carry, but it 

 pays twice over. The potatoes are in the nicest 

 possible shape, and your customers will soon find it 

 out, and there is no chance for (juibbling- about 

 measure. There is ,iust a bushel in a box every 

 time, while baskets vai-y in size, and can easily be 



heaped up too much or too little, thus giving a 

 chance for unpleasant words between buyer and 

 seller. Later in the season, after the potatoes are 

 ripe, and there is no longer any need of handling 

 them so carefully. I drive J:hrough the tield, and two 

 men will empty .5 ) or 60 boxes into my wagon in a 

 very few minutes, and the boxes are left ready to 

 be filled again. When picking up we do not need 

 to have a team and wagon in tlae Held: they can be 

 going to market, or at other work. When there is a 

 good crop, a box can be filled almost without mov- 

 ing it; thus all un-necessary lifting and carrying are 

 avoided. Last fall we wished to dig one si.x-acre 

 piece and pile them close to one edge of the field, so 

 we could plow the land. The boxes were scattered 

 thi-ough the field, and, when filled, were set into the 

 wagon and drawn to the plaec where we wished to 

 idle them, and em))tied out. .'0 bushels in a idle. A 

 gentleman from New London wa- here, and rode 

 with me on the seat while tw.. men liandlcd the 

 boxes. He was much surpri-eil to <i(. how short 

 work we made of clearing otf an acre. There is ;i 

 great ditterenc(; in the amount of labor as com- 

 pared with the ordinary method of handling. Real- 

 ly, I do not mind the raising and handling of L'4 

 acres of potatoes now. with every possible device 

 that Y'ankee ingenuity can invent to save work, as 

 much as I used to the raising of six acres a few 

 years ago. \\'hen .we want to put the crop into the 

 cellar we manage the same way as when piling, ex- 

 cept that the boxes are emptied on to a shoot in the 

 ccllai- window. When a car is to be loaded right 

 from the tield. these boxes coiiU' handy also. We 

 can get a carload dug beforehand, and ha\e them 

 all in the boxes and wagons, so the car can be load- 

 ed in a day. We do not luuetostop to pick them 

 ui) out of piles, and thus a verj- unpleasant as 

 w(dl as slow job is avoided. 



At the end of the season, when the boxes are 

 filled for the last time, they may be carried down 

 cellar and stored away full of i)otatoes, or apples 

 may be put in thcin. There is no nicer way of mai-- 

 keting winter apples than in these bushel boxes. 

 Again, in the spring they are Just the thing to have 

 the seed around in when cutting, and to carry it to 

 the field in. -A boy can wheel the boxes out to the 

 planter as fast as the ciitleis till them. A mnn who 

 worked for me before and alter these boxes came 

 around olten used to say, " How did we ever get 

 along without them, they are so handyV" In the 

 field, it covers are scarce the boxes may be carried 

 togetiier and set up three or four deep, and then 

 one cover will answer for all. These covers are al- 

 most as important as the boxes. We used to carry 

 the boxes together into piles or heaps, and then 

 co\ er them with a I'anvas or rubber blanket, and it 

 was (piiie unhandy. When I was riding to market 

 one day I got to studying o\-er the matter, and it 

 occurred to me t hat a simple hoard cover for each 

 box was just what was wauteil. Stiangc that so 

 simple a thing hadn't been thought of bidore. I 

 went to a mill and had l.-)(l sawed, and took them 

 home with me, and lound them to be just the thing. 

 In catching- weather, it the potatoes are picked up 

 as fast as dug. and coxered, they are all right and 

 ready to load into the wagon any time after it stops 

 raining. One is as iiulependent as possible of the 

 weather. 



You will notice that friend Terrv says 

 they cost liim from ,-?i3.()0 to SHO.OO per 100. 

 Well, we have discovered that, by the use of 

 our machinery, we can make iiice strong 

 ones, made of light strong l)asswood, bound 

 clear around tlie top and clear around 

 the ends with galvani/.ed iron, at the follow- 

 ' lug prices: 2") cts. each; S2.i:') for 10. or 

 si'O.dd per 100. Stulf in the Hat, including 

 nails and galvanized iron, SI. To for 10. or 

 Sl(l..-,(1 per 100. 



The boxes are extremely handy for a 



gr(^at variety of purposes, aside from apples. 



])otatoes. etc. If you want to pick up stones 



in the field, they a"re not strained or pulled 



j out of shape as baskets are ; and whatever 



I you put into them is accm-ately measured. 



I If you want a hen's-nest, I do not know how 



I yoii can do mncli better than to take one of 



these potato-boxes : and if any one should 



ever want to hive his l»ees in a box hive. 



