September, 1913 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



217 



introduced it adds about five cents ex- 

 tra per box to the cost of packing. Only 

 perfect fruit goes in the fancy grade. 

 Number one grade includes only fruit 

 that is a little below fancy, and not per- 

 fect. I believe it always pays to keep 

 above the standards set by the Fruit 

 Marks .'\ct ; then we never get in trou- 

 ble with our customers, and our name 

 holds good everywhere. 



As to the size of the apples, we first 

 sort them with grading boards which 

 have holes in accordance with the grade 

 size decided upon at the last Dominion 

 Fruit Conference held at Ottawa. Mc- 

 intosh generally are graded to one hun- 

 dred and twenty-five, one hundred and 

 thirty-eight and one hundred and fifty 

 apples in a box, and are all a 2-3 diag- 

 onal pack. Fameuse may range from 

 one hundred and sixty-three, one hun- 

 dred and seventy-five and one hundred 

 and eighty-eight apples in a box, all 2-3 

 packs also. These packs all contain five 

 rows of apples and only vary in num- 

 ber of apples lengthwise. 



We believe that every package of fruit 

 should be lined with paper. We feel 

 certain that when apples are wrapped 

 they carry better, bruise less, arrive in 

 better condition and keep longer than 

 unwrapped fruit. The packing paper 

 consists of a layer of paper of a spongy 

 nature (don't get glazed or semi-glazed 

 paper) for lining, and a soft tough paper 

 like the "Duplex," for wrapping. We 

 find ten by ten to suit us very well, 

 though eight by eight would do for the 

 Fameuse. Part of the wrapping paper 

 is stamped with our College motto in 

 red color. This paper is used on the 

 top layer at least, so that when a pack- 

 age is opened and displayed, everyone 

 may know where the box came from, 

 even though the label on the end is in- 

 visible. 



Don't buy cheap paper. One never 

 saves anything by doing so. Cheap 

 paper will break or tear when wrapping, 

 so that the time lost, let alone the ap- 

 pearance of the pack, will more than 

 offset the difference in price of first and 

 second class material. A tray for hold- 

 ing the wrapping paper is found very 

 convenient. This tray is made so that 

 it can be fixed on the side of the pack- 

 ing box. We avoid in mostly all cases 

 using the staig^t pack and find that 

 all our Duchess, Wealthy, Mcintosh and 

 Fameuse can be accommodated with the 

 diagonal 2-3 pack. 



PACKING HOUSE ESSENTIAL 



A packing house is essential when a 

 fruit grower wants to put up extra fine 

 fruit. It should be well lighted, of con- 

 venient size, and well arranged for 

 carrying on this important part of the 

 fruit problem. In order to put up ap- 

 ples in the most perfect condition it is 

 necessary after picking to get them 



quickly into a cool place, where they 

 will be protected from the sun. When 

 the grower packs in the orchard the ap- 

 ples absorb heat from the sun. The less 

 heat there is in an apple when it is 

 shipped the better it will carry and the 

 longer will it keep ih cold storage. 



Not only must we have good packing 

 houses to protect the apples from the 

 sun, but we must do our packing as 

 soon after picking as possible, ihere is 

 nothing equally responsible for damages 

 to the crop as allowing the apples to 



remain unpacked from one to three 

 weeks. The sooner the apples are pack- 

 ed after they are picked the better their 

 condition will be when they are in the 

 hands of the consumer. What we all 

 should try to do is to give satisfaction 

 to the consumer. 



Let us hope that the fruit-growers 

 all over our province may live up to the 

 best in modern orchard management. 

 They will be well repaid for their trou- 

 ble in many ways. 



Packing Apples in Barrels 



A. G. Turney, Provincial Horticulturist,', Fredericton, N.B. 



A LARGE portion of the New Bruns- 

 wick apple crop is marketed in 

 open barrels. The fruit is picked 

 into baskets, emptied loosely into bar- 

 rels in the orchard, stored in bins in the 

 cellar and afterwards placed on the local 

 market, a few barrels at a time, un- 

 headed. However, a considerable amount 

 of early and late fall apples and some 

 winter varieties are exported or shipped 

 such distances within the province as to 

 render good tight packing absolutely 

 essential. 



The minimum size of a standard barrel 

 containing ninety-six quarts, and made 

 from twenty-eight inch staves, common- 

 ly known as the Nova Scotia barrel, is 

 used here. The dimensions of such a 

 barrel as given in the Inspection and 

 •Sales Act, are as follows : Between 

 heads, twenty-six and a half inches in- 

 side measurement ; head diameter, sev- 



enteen inches inside measurenjent ; mid- 

 dle diameter, eighteen and a half inches 

 inside measurement. 



The hoops are made of birch or alder 

 and are often split. The split hoops 

 while lacking in neatness are cheaper 

 and usually stronger. To prepare the 

 barrel for filling, we drive the quarter 

 hoops down firmly and securely nail the 

 face end. This is done by driving nails 

 obliquely through the upper hoop, the 

 end of the stave, and into each corner 

 of each piece of the head. An additional 

 nail or sometimes two should be driven 

 into the side pieces. In driving these 

 nails we start them as low down on the 

 end hoop as is possible but do not let 

 them come through the head. Use five 

 penny nails for this purpose. 



Head liners are hardly used here at 

 all, although they should be more gener- 



