PACKING 



PACKING 



1187 



boxes or baskets, made of thin veneers fastened together 

 with tacks or with wire staples, are generally used, 

 though pints and even smaller sizes are popular in some 

 markets, especially for such delicate fruits as rasp- 



1609. Bushel basket with cover 



berries. Square baskets, a little larger at the top than 

 at the bottom, are preferred at the East, while in the 

 Mississippi valley the square "Hallock" or oblong 

 "Leslie" boxes are mostly used. In either case a cer- 

 tain number, usually either 16, 24 or 32, are placed in light 

 slatcrates for shipment. Fig. 1607. The boxes or baskets 

 are filled in the field by the pickers. They are inspected 

 more or less thoroughly at the packinghouse, where the 

 process of packing usually consists in arranging the top 

 layers so that the box or basket shall be evenly, but 

 slightly, rounding full, so as to avoid crushing, and yet 

 not seem slack-filled on reaching market. 

 In some cases, notably in Florida, the 

 boxes are emptied and repacked from 

 the bottom. 



Peaches are regularly marketed in a 

 greater variety of packages than any of 

 our fruits. In Georgia and neighboring 



smaller packages it becomes a rather difficult art to 

 so place each fruit that the package shall be full, and 

 yet have none of the top layers stand high enough to 

 be crushed by the cover. If the fruits chance to run of 

 just such size that the package can be evenly filled by 

 packing in uniform layers, one on top of another, the 

 problem is comparatively simple. Thus, with the Geor- 

 gia -l-quart basket, some of the small early kinds, like 

 Tillotson, often run so that three layers deep just fills 

 the basket properly. Again, with the largest Elbertas, 

 two layers, one on top of the other, are sufficient, but the 

 great bulk of the crop will not pack on either of these 

 plans, and it is necessary to introduce a broken layer 

 between the bottom and top layers. Such packing re- 

 quires skill and experience in order to produce satisfac- 

 tory results. When the fruits run unevenly in size they 

 must be assorted or they cannot be packed conveniently. 

 It is slower and more expensive than simply dumping 

 the fruit into large baskets, but delicate fruits, like 

 peaches, endure distant shipment much better in small 

 than in large packages, and experience is constantly 

 demonstrating that extra care in assorting and packing 

 fruit is always well paid for by increased market prices. 

 All of these packages, or modifications of them, are 

 also used for plums, ]ii;irs, earlv apples, tomatoes and 

 many other products. Which om-'to stlect for use in any 

 given case will depend on tlie chnrai'terof the product, 

 the distance from market, the available supply of skilled 

 labor and on the iisages and preferences of "the market 

 to be supplied. The latter is an important factor and 

 one that sometimes changes in the same market with 



It has no handle and usually no cover, 

 and cars have to be specially shelved for 

 carrying it. In New .lersey, the Hudson 

 River country, and New England, a similar basket is 

 used, but holding only 16 quarts. In Michigan custom 

 varies, but the bulk of the shipments are in long, flat- 

 handled baskets of various sizes — quarter, third, and 

 half bushel. The fruit is usually covered with colored 

 netting, and it is sometimes further protected by slat 

 covers. Another jMichigan package is a rather heavy, 

 round bushel basket, with small side handles and a stout 

 cover, held in place by a projecting shtt that is sprung 

 under the handles. Fig. 1609. In .southern Illinois and 

 the Mississippi valley generally, the popular package was 

 for many years a third-bushel box with sawn ends and 

 middle-piece 5x8 in., with veneer sides 22 in. long. Of 

 late years it has been 

 replaced, to some ex- 

 tent, by 4-quart bas- 

 kets like those used 

 in Georgia, but 

 packed one layer 

 deep in 4 -basket 

 crates. California 

 peaches always come 

 In rectangular 20- 

 pound boxes, each 

 fruit carefully se- 

 lected and wrapped 

 in paper. With the 

 larger of these pack- 

 ages, like the bushel 

 and five -eighths 

 bushel baskets, the 

 act of packing con- 

 sists, as with straw- 

 berries, in simply ar- 

 ranging the top so as leio. Six-basket crate, 

 to secure the d.^sired used for tomatoes ,ind Doaches : 

 tulness, but with the Georgia and Florida. 



different seasons of the year. Thus, with tomatoes in 

 Chicago and other western markets, the supply early in 

 the spring is largely from Florida, where the custom is 

 to pick green, wrap in papers and pack in the Georgia 

 0-basket crate. Fig. 1610. This style of package and of 

 packing now dominates the market and is the recognized 

 standard for tomatoes during March and April. During 

 the lastof May and fir.stof June, Mississippi tomatoes be- 

 gin to appear in these markets in increasing quantities. 

 These are packed without wrapping, in flat 4-basket 

 crates. Being fresher than the Florida stock, they are 

 preferred by the trade, and from this time on wrapped 

 tomatoes in G-basket crates are distinctly at a discount, 

 even if of good quality. 



(4rapes are likewise marketed in a variety of packages. 

 At the South they are often shipped in the Bbasket 

 crate. Fancy kinds are sometimes packed in round 3- 

 pound boxes that are crated for shipment. The great 

 bulk of the grape crop outside of California is, however, 

 packed in , 5-10-pound Climax baskets. Fig. IGIl. These 

 are oblong baskets with a handle. They are made with 

 sawn bottoms and solid veneer sides, with a solid veneer 

 cover fastened down with wire hooks. California grapes 

 are packed in square 5-pound baskets made of two pieces 

 of thin veneer crossed over the bottom, and bent up to 

 form the sides, with the top ends of the veneer held in 

 place by a light tin binding. Four, or sometimes eight, of 

 these baskets are placed in a crate, making a 20- or 40- 

 poiind package. In many places, the grapes are cut 

 from the vines some hours in advance of packing, so that 

 the stems may lose their brittle freshness and become 

 limp enough to lie close together, thus preventing undue 

 shrinking in transit. Each bunch is carefully exam- 

 ined and all imperfect berries are removed with sharp- 

 pointed clippers. The packer .should incline the basket 

 in such a way that the packing may begin in one end, 

 thus allowing the top, or face, to be made of the. 



