FRENCH METHOD OF PACKING AND SHIPPING PEARS 



BY 



W. A. McKINNON, B. A. 



CHIEF OF FRUIT DEPT., OTTAWA. 



Fig. 2676. Fkuit Packing in France. 



TO those who are accustomed to think 

 of the French as a nation of plea- 

 sure seekers it is somewhat of a re- 

 velation to mingle for a time among the 

 working classes in the city of Paris and its 

 immediate neighborhood. The discovery is 

 soon made that while Paris is filled with 

 strangers seeking only pleasure, it is :n 

 reality a busy hive of ceaseless workers, it 

 was the writer's privilege to become ac- 

 quainted with the heads of one of the largest 

 fruit houses in France, and to see exempli- 

 fied the wonderful concentration of business 

 management which enables one firm to place 

 the products of a thousand orchards side by 

 side, in the same market, and packed with 

 absolute uniformity. 



At the head office of Champagne Freres 

 orders are received from British and Conti- 

 nental markets for all grades and varieties 

 of pears, plums, dates and other fruits. 

 Daily reports coming in from their agents in 

 all parts of France enable them to give ship- 

 ping orders in accordance with the supply 



and demand, so that one mind controls and 

 directs the entire market operations of the 

 firm. 



In every section of the country a repre- 

 sentative of the firm visits daily five or six 

 packing houses located in his district. Sec- 

 tional maps, which are kept at the head 

 office, indicate to the management exactly 

 where each of these traveling foremen is to 

 be found at any particular moment, and 

 what sort of fruit is being " operated " 'n 

 the district in question. The limits of these 

 districts are definitely fixed, and the foreman 

 is not authorized to buy a single package of 

 fruit beyond these limits, which the experi- 

 ence of the firm has enabled them to fix with 

 accuracy, on the basis of profit. It is true 

 there as in Canada that choice fruit may be 

 produced in a certain village, while at an- 

 other, five miles away, the same varieties are 

 poor and unprofitable and quite other fruits 

 are the staple. The foremen report daily 

 by wire what quantities of fruit of each 

 variety and grade are available for imme- 



FiG. 2677. French Fkuit Pa 



