230 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



September, 1914. 



— Bissell Steel Stone Boat — 



SrecIRailingaroundcJ^eK. Steel Runners. lU-\eI Corners 

 7 ft. by a, >< or.i ft. SViite Depl. N. tor I'ulJerand Prices 



— T. E. BISSELL CO., LTD., ELORA, ONT. -i^ 



Common Mistakes in Barrel Packing of Apples 



p. J. Carey, Chief Fruit Inspector, Ontario 



TRADi; MARK ^^f * V^ 



Wilkinson tlimaX D 



RI£GISTERl-n 



Ensilage and 

 Straw Cutter 



Our "B" machine, built especially for 

 the farmer. A combination machine 

 — it will cut and deliver green corn 

 into the higbestsiloordrystrawor hay 

 into the mow. 12-inch throat, rolls 

 raise 6 inches and act close to knives —solid, 

 compact cutting surface. Can change cut with- 

 out stopping. Can be reversed instantly. Direct 

 pneumatic delivery. Knife wheel carriea fans. 

 No lodging, everything cut, wheel always in 

 balance. Steel fan case. 



Madcintwostyles— mounted or unmounted. Wc 

 .-ilso makelarifer type machine for custom work. 

 Aslc your dealer about thisw^Il-known iiiacltine 

 and write us for new catjlog sliuwin^ all styles, 



THE BATEMAN-WILKINSON CO., 

 LIMITED 

 408 Campbell Ave. 

 Toronto, Canada 



Mr. Fruit Grower 



Each year more and more of the 

 celebrated " Friend " hand and power 

 Sprayers are to be found in Canada; 

 THERE'S A REASON-Let us tell 

 you. 



"FRIEND" QUEEN 



A popular model on which sales have 

 doubled. We have many others. 



"FRIEND" MFG. CO. 



GASPORT, N.Y. 



FOR a half-century the barrel has been 

 the package sfcnerally used for the 

 shipment of Canadian apples for ex- 

 port. It is only within recent years 

 that the box has made its appearance, and 

 while the latter has come to stay as far as 

 our domestic trade is concerned, the same 

 cannot be said of the export trade. The 

 reasons for this are plain. With the ex- 

 ception of some portions of the north of 

 England, where our apples are purchased 

 by the package by the more wcalhy con- 

 sumers, the great bulk of our fruit is -sold 

 by the pound. 



This being the case it matters little, 

 therefore, what trouble we may take in 

 pu'ting on the European market neat and 

 attractive packages with a view of impress- 

 ing the consumers, when such packa.ges 

 scarcely ever reach the public, but have 

 their contents brokem up and sold in small 

 quantities. Generally speaking, it would 

 seem then that the apple package for ex- 

 port for some time to come is nothing 

 more than a carrier. I am ready to admit, 

 therefore, that the barrel is the cheaper 

 package and likely to hold is place for 

 the greater portion of the export shipments, 

 notwithstanding the fact that the number of 

 boxes exported is increasing yearly. This 

 being (rue, them, perhaps the last word has 

 not been said on the proper methods of bar- 

 relling apples. It is my intention to point 

 out some of the mistakes commonly made 

 by the great bulk of apple handlers. 



PACING. 



Taking the operations in order, I woxtld 

 like to say a few words abou' the facing 

 of the barrel. The Inspection and Sales 

 Act requires that the face of a package shall 

 fairly represemt the contents. Of course, 

 this means as to quality of fruit. There is 

 no law to prevent a packer from making 

 th'S face of his package look attractive by 

 removing the stems from the apples and 

 using fruits of a uniform size ; or say a 

 half-way between the maximum and mini- 

 mum of the lot being packed as to size 

 and color. There is easily twenty-five cents 

 a barrel in value in the same lot of apples 

 between a slovenly faced barrel and one 

 properly faced. 



PROPER FULLNESS. 



In the particular of proper fullness, pack- 

 ers have made the greatest mistake in the 

 past The large number of slacks reported 

 from the Old Country and the low prices 

 returned for such alarmed the apple hand- 

 lers, and orders were given to all packers 

 that the trouble of "slacks" had to be met. 

 Quite naturally the first thought was to 

 fill to overflowing, and as a result he fruit 

 was heaped on the end of the barrel before 

 the head was being placed on. Strangeh' 

 enough it took almost a quarter of a cen- 

 tury to convince the apple growers hat 

 this was a faul y method and that thou- 

 sands of barrels of the worst kind of 

 "slacks" was the result of this style of 

 packing. .Apples crushed into a barrel with 

 skin broken, followed, in many cases, by 

 heating while in tr^insit, spells failure, and 

 ■he account sales and check in such cases 

 are heartbreaking to the shipper. 



The word "racking" as it applies to bar- 

 rel-packing was coined by the apple packer 

 and is commonly understood to mean the 

 shaking and settling down of the apples in 

 the barrel. So important is its application 

 in the operation of barrel packing that the 

 difference between it being properly and 

 improperly done is the difference between 

 success and failure in the packing of apples. 



The process of racking is well understood 

 by all apple men, and it is no' my purpos<' 

 to go into detail ; only to emphasize the 

 importance of that particular part of the 

 work. 



TAILING. 



Perhaps fifty per cent, of the barrel 

 packers still practice what may be termed 

 jumble tailing. This is where an attempt 

 is made to roughly and hrurriedly level the 

 top surface before placing the head. This 

 mayt be put down as one of the common 

 mistakes in barrel packing. When the 

 head is put on, the high apples take he 

 whole pressure first and are crushed or 

 broken before the head is in place. What 

 may be called proper tailing is when the 

 apples arte placed in solidly and evenly, so 

 that each one will take its share of the 

 pressure. Where this is done the operator 

 ran more easily de"ect if he is filling too 

 high, and if the rest of the operation has 

 been properly done the surface apples will 

 not show more than a slight flattening and 

 the fruit below not damaged. It has been 

 admitted that up till a few years ago 

 sevemty-five per cen'. of the export apples 

 have been overpressed. Experiments have 

 shown that where proper racking and tail- 

 ing has been done it is not necessary that 

 apples should projea above the end of 

 staves, and considerably lower for domestic 

 markets. 



PRE COOLING. 



This introduKTes another phase of 'he 

 operation that is a big factor in successftil 

 applie handling. The packing of summer 

 or fall apples in an airtight barrel when the 

 temperature is high can certainly be classed 

 PS one of the mistakes. Experiments this 

 season have shown ;hat small fruits pre- 

 cooled sold for double the price of the same 

 class of fruits shipped in the ordinary way. 

 The same difference has often been shown 

 between apples that have been heated in 

 barrels and the same class of fruit that 

 had arrived in a sound condition. Where 

 pr;-cooling cannot be put in practice it is 

 a wise plan when the weather is warm to 

 pick apples from the trees the day before 

 packing Orchard boxes for this purpose 

 ane used to good advantage in the ."Anna- 

 polis Valley, and Ontario handlers and fruit 

 growers' associations would do well to put 

 this into practice where possible. 



As the barrel is still to be the package 

 fon the shipment of a large proportion of 

 export apples as well as for a proportion of 

 the domestic supply, surely it is wor*h while 

 for those engaged in the trade to make a 

 study of the very latest methods in orde' 

 to secure for all concerned the best results. 



The United Fruit Companies of Nova 

 Scotia, Ltd.. last year paid salaries amount- 

 ing to $8,858.00. The general manager re- 

 ceived $2,500, the secretary and the combin- 

 ed organizer and inspector $1,200 each: the 

 European representative, $1,111 ; the Halifax 

 representative, $1,000; and office help $1.- 

 847. These officials incurred expenses in 

 the course of their work amounting to 

 $1,963. 



Mr. J. L. Hilborn, who at one time con- 

 ducted "he Fruit Experiment Station at 

 Leamington, Ont., for the Ontario Depart- 

 ment of .Agriculture, has recently been ap- 

 pointed by the British Columbia Depart- 

 ment of .Agriculture, 'o take charge of an 

 Experimental Station for small fruits and 

 v"getnbles that is to be opened by the Pro- 

 vincial Government at Summerland, B.C. 



i 



