PREPARATION FOR GATHERING FRUIT 



257 



which cost about $2.00 each for those holding sixty quarts. 

 The crates were very neatly finished, and well painted, 

 with his name and address put on with stencil plate. 

 When he received his returns for the fruit, he found that 

 it had brought seven cents per quart more than that of 

 his neighbors, although of no better quality. The com- 

 mission merchant, to whom the fruit was consigned, sent 

 a note along with the money, stating that the extra price 

 was owing entirely to the neat appearance of his baskets 

 and crates. 



Thus it can be seen that he received $4.20 per crate 

 more than his neighbors, merely for the good look of the 

 vessels in which the fruit was sent to market, and if neither 

 crate or basket had been returned, he would then have 



gained sixty cents per crate ; 

 but the fact Avas that scarce- 

 ly a basket was lost, because 

 they were considered by pur- 

 chasers of the fruit as worth 

 returning, while the contrary 

 is often the case with inferior 

 kinds. 



Crates and baskets are in 

 some cases returned free by 

 the railroad and steamboat 

 companies, unless the distance 

 to market is too great ; under 

 such circumstances it is best 

 not to expect it, but ship the 

 fruit in cheap b'askets, unless 

 it will bring enough more, as in the instance named, to 

 pay for packing in a better style. 



The most common basket used for the New York mar- 

 ket is what is called the Jersey Strawberry basket, figure 

 102 ; it requires from five to seven to hold a quart. Of 

 late years this basket is seldom used, except for the smaller 



Fig. 102. JERSEY BASKET. 



