'PACKING, MARKING, SHIPPING, ETC. 445 



" Strawberries. All large berries should be packed in 

 quart boxes or baskets, twenty-four or thirty to the crate. 

 In filling the boxes, put in berries of uniform size, reject- 

 ing all soft ones ; face the box with nice fruit, and fill it 

 rounding full, so that when packed in crates the upper box 

 will slightly press the fruit in the lower box. The small 

 varieties of strawberries can be packed in a little larger 

 crate, or packed in half-bushel drawers, four drawers to a 

 stand. 



" Raspberries should be packed in a quart box or 

 basket. The fruit should be carefully picked, boxes well 

 filled, and packed in crates of twenty-four and thirty 

 quarts. 



" Currants can be packed in half-bushel or bushel 

 drawers, and equally as well in baskets ; and when filled 

 should be well rounded. 



" Cherries. Same as currants ; but think a clean half- 

 bushel basket preferable, with a paper or cloth cover. 

 They should be well packed. 



" Blackberries. Pack in boxes holding a quart or pint 

 twenty-four or thirty-six quarts to a crate. Fill and sort 

 the same as strawberries. When the crate is full, place a 

 sheet of straw-paper over the upper row of boxes, so that 

 it will exclude the air and help retain the color of the fruit. 



" Plums. The fancy kinds should be packed in small 

 boxes or fancy baskets ; while the common kinds can be 

 packed in half-bushel or bushel boxes or baskets, the same 

 as peaches." They sell best in small packages. 



(trapes, when fully ripe, should be taken, a single 

 cluster at a time, and all imperfect berries cut from the 

 bunch. They can be packed in three, five, six, ten, or twelve- 

 pound boxes ; or if going but a short distance, in clean 

 baskets of ten to twenty pounds, and covered with a 

 cloth. In packing, take off the cover of the box, line the 

 inside with thin white paper, commence filling with whole 

 bunches, pack close-as possible without jamming, fill up 



