376 



2HE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



as I can ascertain, the only thing they can 

 claim is better despatch en route, as per- 

 ishable freight is not so often side-tracked, 

 but I have yet to learn of a railway that 

 paid claims on apples for ordinary delay 

 in transit, and I consider the handicap in 

 weight quite sufficient to enable the car- 

 riers to move a barrel of apples quite as 

 cheaply as a barrel of flour. Agitation 

 would bring about this much needed re- 

 form. 



We next consider the various kinds of 

 packages in use and their respective ad- 

 vantages. The barrel is the standard used 

 for perhaps 90 per cent, of the fruit, but is 

 it the best? California has adopted the 

 box of four or five tiers, averaging about 

 40 pounds net of fruit, and this package is 

 getting quite popular in some localities, 

 and has the advantage of being more suit- 

 able for a grocer to handle as package 

 goods. Many people would buy a box of 

 those apples who could not be induced to 

 buy a barrel at a time. When apples are 

 retailed by the pound, much of the fruit is 

 injured by the customer or dealer turning 

 it over, pinching it and examining it in a 

 variety of ways that would not be done in 

 a package. The cost of the package is 

 about the same in each case. 



For the home trade and immediate use, 

 the bushel crate is becoming quite popular 

 in Michigan, and has some advantages. It 

 is cheaper than the barrel, saves all ex- 



pense of packing, can be easier handled, 

 all the fruit is open to view, any farmer can 

 bring apples to the depot direct from the 

 trees, and is a convenient package for the 

 dealer and consumer when the apples are 

 required for prompt use. 



For high class trade a compartment box 

 is coming into use, and has been favorably 

 received in the markets of Europe. These 

 boxes are made to hold various amounts 

 and different size apples, and are made 

 something like an t.^^ case, each apple 

 having a compartment by itself and is 

 thoroughly ventilated. A firm in London, 

 Ontario, are now manufacturing these, 

 samples of which are here. The fruit 

 growers of Niagara district are using them 

 quite extensively. They cost more than a 

 barrel, but for a high class trade there is 

 nothing better. Apples stored in these 

 packages for the Pan-American Exhibition 

 with the Buffalo Cold Storage Co., kept in 

 good condition for a year. One thing is 

 essential to the transportation of apples in 

 any package, viz., air circulation. 



I feel convinced that fully 50 per cent, of 

 our apples are ruined from improper trans- 

 portation from some of the causes referred 

 to, and if we, as apple shippers, ever ex- 

 pect to climb the ladder of success to its 

 topmost step, it can only be accomplished 

 by giving this most important question our 

 earnest consideration. 



Fig. 2390. The Spruce Gall Louse. See page 377. 



