1952 



MACHINERY 



MACHINERY 



practical and widely used receptacle. The fruit will not 

 bruise when placed in this, and the swinging handle 

 enables one to let it down inside a barrel and empty the 

 fruits without dropping them from a distance. Wire or 

 rough- woven baskets cause unnecessary bruising because 

 of their sharp and uneven surfaces. Many persons use a 

 galvanized pail which discourages carelessness in drop- 

 ping apples into the receptacle, as the noise can be 

 heard for some distance. 



2282. A good packing-table for box fruit, with canvas bottom and 

 racks at two diagonal corners for holding boxes. (C. S. Wilson.) 



Picking-bags are made in a variety of forms from 

 the simple grain-bag hung over one shoulder on a 

 strap attached at the top and bottom, to the carefully 

 made apron-like pouch hung in front of the picker by 

 straps over each shoulder. When used carefully, the 

 fruit will not be badly bruised in the bags, but the 

 average workman with a small sense of responsibility 

 will bump the bag against the ladder and in descending 

 will often let it rest from round to round to ease the 

 weight upon his shoulder. It often happens in such 

 cases that 90 per cent of the fruit is more or less 

 bruised before it reaches the packing-tables. 



In the packing of all kinds of fruit, very much 

 depends upon the use of a good packing-table. If this 

 table is not properly constructed, the speed and 

 efficiency of the sorting-crew will be cut down and a 

 poorly packed box or barrel will often result. The 

 orchardists have realized this and are now using over 

 practically the whole country the same type of table 

 which by experience they have found superior to all 

 others. 



For the packing of apples or pears in barrels, the 

 tilted, slat-bottomed table is almost universally used. 

 The body of the table is from 3^4 to 4 feet wide and 

 from 6 to 10 feet in length. The sides and ends are of 

 inch material 8 inches wide and the bottom is covered 

 with slats 1 inch square running lengthwise of the 

 table and spaced 1 inch apart. The legs are of 2 by 4 

 or slightly smaller material, 39 inches long at the lower 

 end and 45 to 48 inches at the upper end. This allows 

 sufficient height to place a barrel under the lower end 

 and gives it enough pitch to keep the apples rolling 

 down toward the lower end where the table is narrowed 

 by a diagonal board to a funnel-like opening about 10 

 inches wide through which the fruit rolls to an apron 

 over the top of the barrel. As the slack of the apron is 

 filled, the packer lowers it carefully into the barrel, 

 having meanwhile stopped the stream of apples by a 

 gate, or with his hand. 



2283. Two simple screw 

 barrel presses. 



The box-packers have practically standardized the 

 type of table suited to their needs. The body is in the 

 form of a square 4 feet on a side and covered by a can- 

 vas top which sags slightly and forms a receptacle to 

 hold the fruit. The legs are 3 feet in length and should 

 be of 2 by 4 material well braced. From opposite 

 diagonal corners the sides and bottom pieces extend 

 12 inches to form a rest for the boxes. This table, 

 illustrated in Fig. 2282, is often made much longer and 

 the top divided into several compartments simi- 

 lar to the one described so that it would be 

 adapted to use in a large packing-house. The 

 fruit is first graded and each grade placed in a 

 separate section so that the packer works with 

 only one grade at a tune. 



The peach industry has not developed its type 

 of packing-table to a form as standardized as 

 has the apple industry. There is, however, a 

 style of peach-packing table in rather general 

 use for putting up the six-basket Georgia carrier. This 

 table is somewhat like the long box packing-table 

 described in the last paragraph, except that the com- 

 partments are 3 feet square and instead of the project- 

 ing box supports, a long shelf 

 10 inches wide is attached 

 along the side 10 inches below 

 the top. Upon this shelf the 

 packers rest their carriers 

 and reach over them for the 

 fruit upon the table. A simi- 

 lar shelf is built on the 

 opposite side to accommo- 

 date the baskets of the 

 graders as they sort the fruit 

 into several grades. Over the 

 packing-table at a convenient 

 height is usually suspended 

 another shelf to hold extra dividers, baskets, and other 

 materials. 



Several types of box-presses are upon the market, 

 but equally good ones may be built at home. The one 

 illustrated in Fig. 2284 is a common type and is not 

 difficult to construct. The iron clamps which may be 

 easily made by a blacksmith are attached by pins and 

 should be adjustable to accommodate boxes of different 

 heights. Barrel-presses are of two kinds, lever and 

 screw. They are equally good, the choice between the 

 two being one of personal preference. The lever presses 

 are a little more rapid and are also more tiring upon 

 the operator. A narrow iron circle is preferable to the 

 customary bar across the top, but this circle must not 

 be large and unwieldy or it will interfere seriously with 



the operator's 

 movements in 

 placing the 

 head. The 

 simpler the 

 construction of 

 the press, the 

 better. Two 

 common types 

 of screw presses 

 are illustrated 

 in Fig. 2283. 



The mechan- 

 ical grader is 

 one of the most 

 recent and pro- 

 bably the most 

 significant de- 

 velopments in 

 packing imple- 

 ments. The 



2284. A press for box fruit. The clamps, popularity of 

 worked by a foot-lever, press down the cover these machines 

 until it can be nailed. is a clear indi- 



