21 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



September, 1913. 



New Brunswick Fruit Growers Are Besianing to Use the Box. A Sample of Their Pack 



the more graceful shape of the long box 

 does not. The customer is inclined to 

 think he is getting more for his money 

 and this is no inconsiderable factor when 

 selling in competition. 



Both boxes would cost the same sup- 

 posing both to be in use together. It is 

 a fact, however, that the long box is 

 costing our Okanagan growers fifteen 

 cents this year, while the short box is 

 costing our Wenatchee and Yakima 

 competitors eight and a half cents. The 

 causes of the difference are many and 

 . not easily removed. Because of the dif- 

 ' ference in style, our shippers are not 

 able to secure the best possible quota- 

 tions from Washington Mills, so that 

 possibly some of the advantages of com- 

 petitive manufacture are lost. The dif- 

 ference in the cost of the package alone 

 removes about half the protection of the 

 tariff on apples, thirteen cents a box. 

 More competition for our box business 

 might have some efffn in equalizing 

 prices. Our principal box manufacturers 

 are quite willing to adopt ll;e American 

 sizes however. 



No one, we think, has questioned the 

 extra strength and rigidity 1 1 the short 

 box due to the much greater width of 

 sides compared to the length. Its extra 

 strength is of advantage in handling, 

 especially for the export market. The 

 boxes break less, twist less and there 



is not so much splitting. Of most im- 

 potance, there is not so much side bulge 

 due not only to the stronger sides but to 

 the two-piece tops and bottoms as well. 

 These spring more easily than the single 

 piece tops and bottoms in use with the 

 long box and do not bulge the sides, 

 which may cause so much bruising when 

 the boxes are piled, as they always 

 should be, on their sides. We believe 

 that the short box carries the fruit with 

 less bruising and more safely than does 

 the long one. 



It is a great defect in the use of boxes 

 for fruit and vegetables that so many 

 miscellaneous sizes have been developed. 

 There is economy in uniformity and stan- 

 dardization. Our principal fruit pack- 

 ages, the apple box, the pear box and 

 the peach box are of three diflferent 

 depths, and two different lengths. To 

 illustrate : Apple, 20x11x10 inches ; pear, 

 j8Mxiixi8^ inches; peach, i8^xiir4 

 to 5 inches. 



The pear and peach boxes have been 

 narrowed from eleven and a half inches 

 to conform with our apple box. They 

 hold less fruit by three to five pounds 

 than the American packages. This han- 

 dicap coulcl be removed by adopting the 

 Northwestern apple box, and with it the 

 standard pear and peach boxes used by 

 our competitors, and until recently by 

 ourselves. 



Our American competitors use boxes 

 of the following dimensions in which the 

 uniformity in length and width may be 

 strikingly noticed: Apple, i854:xii'^x 

 io}4 inches; pear and crab apple, 18^ 

 xii^xSj^ inches; peach, pear, plum, 

 and tomato box, i8%xii}4\^ to 5 

 inches. 



Thare is no question of adopting both 

 boxes. No advantage in any market, 

 nor any convenience in the packing, 

 could compensate for the added cost and 

 inconvenience. We do not think our 

 growers would even consider such a 

 thing ; they have had too much ex- 

 perience for that. 



ABSOLUTE tJNIPOBMITY IMPOSSIBLB 



Fruit packages cannot be absolutely 

 uniform in all dimensions because as 

 great a weight of soft fruit, such as 

 peaches, cannot be packed as in the case 

 of apples and on the other hand the 

 smaller packages would be far too costly 

 for the hard fruit. There is no reason 

 from the packer's standpoint, however, 

 why boxes should not be uniform in 

 length and width. This effects economy 

 in several important particulars. It suits 

 the manufacturer better because all the 

 top and bottom pieces are the same 

 length and width for all three boxes. 

 Then defective apple box sides and ends 

 can be cut down to make the same 

 pieces for the pear box or for the peach 

 box without sawing anything off the 

 end. Then, again, surplus apple box 

 sides and ends may be split to make 

 peach and tomato sides and ends. Lum- 

 ber for box material is cut to fewer sides 

 as well. All this makes for economy in 

 manufacture. 



HANDLING SIMPLIFIED 



More uniform sizes also simplify hand- 

 ling in the warehouse and in making up 

 the package. This is a considerable 

 item where box shooks are handled and 

 where fruit packages have to be made 

 up rapidly. Convenience in loading cars 

 is even a greater factor in saving ex- 

 pense. Packages must be of the same 

 length to load well in mixed cars. Dif- 

 ferent lengths usually require extra brac- 

 ing and the cost may run several dollars 

 a car higher. 



It is quite true that the same saving 

 in handling can be had by lengthening 

 the pear and p)each box to correspond 

 with the apple box. It is generally con- 

 cededed, however, that 'a peach box 

 twenty inches long would be too fragile 

 to carry safely ; the apple box would 

 have to be shortened instead. In the 

 Northwest standard box, 18^x11 J^x 

 1054, all the apples are packed on the 

 side ; they carry quite well and the ap- 

 pearance is much better than if packed 

 stem or blossom up. The danger of cut- 

 ting is eliminated. The lining paper for 

 apple and pear boxes could be cut to 



