MARKETING PLUMS AND PRUNES 1201 



Divers utensils arc used in connection with picking. Ladders, 

 baskets, and the manner of conveyance from orchard to packing 

 house, all depend upon the judgment of the individual. Of 

 onirsc plums are always hand picked, and good growers exercise 

 great care so as not to bruise them or destroy the delicate bloom. 

 I' n fortunately, however, many pickers are careless and do not ob- 

 serve these important details. 



PACKING 



In New York the plum crop as a rule is sent to market in six-, 

 right-, and ten-pound grape baskets, the smallest of these re- 

 ceptacles being at present preferred. Four-pound baskets are 

 occasionally used. The fruit should always be conveyed from the 

 orchard to the packing house for preparation for market. The 

 grower who ships his plums just as they are picked, or who packs 

 in the field, always receives inferior returns. In the packing 

 house, preparations for shipping can be carefully made, inasmuch 

 as the package and its appearance advertise the product. 

 Western-grown plums coming to this state are usually wrapped 

 singly in tissue paper as an aid toward safe shipment, as well as 

 to increase their attractiveness. Such a custom has rarely been 

 followed in Xew York, but it would seem that choice specimens 

 might profitably be handled in this manner for fancy trade. 

 Sorting, grading, facing, and marketing of the packages depends 

 almost entirely upon the judgment of the individual, and no defi- 

 nite rules can be laid down. Every new idea for an attractive 

 package should always be given careful consideration. 



STORING 



Most plums are seldom stored longer than a week in common 

 storage, and the limit in cold storage for the majority of varieties 

 i- three or four weeks. With proper precaution, many of the 

 late plums and some of the prunes could be stored for a much 

 longer term. Domestica and Insititia varieties at the Geneva Ex- 

 periment Station have frequently been kept a month or longer in 

 common storage without unusual precaution. There is a vast 

 difference in keeping qualities of plums, since certain varieties 

 can now be found which can be stored for some time. Already 



