PACK.V-I > 



PACKAGES 



2429 



the whole stems adhering to the fruit, or the stems are 

 cut with shears; rarely, when the fruit is to be canned 

 soon after picking, it is pulled from the stem. In this 

 case it is carried to the canning plant in boxes which 

 are lined with newspapers. 

 As the fruit is picked, 

 it is placed in baskets or 

 pails and carried to the 

 packing-station, where it 

 is weighed or measured, 

 graded and packed. The 

 packages may be Climax 

 baskets, ten - pound flat 

 boxes, or sixteen - quart 

 crates. The fine varieties 

 of sweet cherries, especi- 

 ally from the western 

 states, are often packed 

 in the ten-pound box. The 

 layer is carefully placed in by hand and 



2709. Portable hinged crate 



bottom 



enough fruit to make a firm tight pack distributed over 



the bottom layer, and the cover pressed on. 



Grapes. 



Grapes are cut from the vines with special grape 

 shears. Fine varieties for fancy market are handled 

 with care, so as not to rub off the bloom. They may 

 be packed in the shipping package in the field, but are 

 usually carried to the packing-house in trays. Some 

 growers prefer to hold them in the packing-house for a 

 day or two, to allow the stems to "wilt," as they can 



2710. A vegetable 

 basket 



2711. Bushel basket with 

 cover, useful for vegetables 

 and hard fruits. 



then be more easily handled. The packing is usually 

 performed on a table or bench, and from the picking- 

 box or tray into the shipping package. 



The most common package is a five-, eight- or ten- 

 pound Climax basket with a solid wooden cover. 

 Grapes intended for wine are marketed in peck or half- 

 bushel baskets, and in New York flat trays are com- 

 monly used. 



Pears. 



Pears were formerly packed in a small barrel or keg 

 holding about five pecks, and more recently pear bar- 

 rels were commonly used. These held about a peck less 

 than the standard apple barrel. The packages now used 

 are the standard barrel and the bushel box, the same 

 as the apple. When the box is used, each fruit is 

 wrapped in paper. 



Pineapples. 



Pineapples are packed in crates that hold two dozen 

 fruits, and each one is wrapped in paper. 



Peaches. 



Peaches are picked into 

 baskets of various t ypes, 

 the one-half bushel swing- 

 handle type being the 

 most common, and are 

 carried to the packing- 

 house. In some regions 



2712. A bushel box. Useful for the fruits are run over 

 fruits and vegetables. mechanical sizing ma- 



2713. Ventilated barrel. 



chines, similar to apples, or sized by hand. They 

 may be packed for shipment into flat twenty-pound 

 wooden boxes, and each fruit wrapped in paper. This 

 is the general custom in the western states. In the 

 eastern states the stovepipe or Delaware basket (Fig. 

 2706), holding sixteen quarts, is used. There may be 

 a slat cover or netting cover, 

 and a light crate that will hold 

 three of these baskets is some- 

 times used. 



The six-basket Georgia carrier 

 is a standard peach package 

 (Fig. 2707). It requires special 

 skill to pack fruit into these 

 baskets properly and rapidly. 

 The half-bushel and bushel bas- 

 kets are also well recognized 

 peach packages. A round stick 

 placed in the center of the 

 package to support the cover 

 insures a minimum amount of bruised fruit. 



Plums. 



Plums are shipped in a great variety of packages. 

 Fancy grades are wrapped in paper and packed in two- 

 quart baskets and four of these are held in a flat wooden 

 box or crate that weighs about twenty pounds. Large 

 fruit varieties are wrapped in paper and packed in flat 

 twenty-pound boxes the same as peaches. Climax 

 baskets, holding from five to twenty pounds are used, 

 also half-bushel and bushel baskets. Small-fruit varie- 

 ties, like the Dawson, may be shipped in sixteen-quart 

 cans. 



Small-fruits (Figs. 2708, 2709). 



The berry-like fruits, as blackberry, currant, dew- 

 berry, gooseberry, loganberry, raspberry, and straw- 

 berry, are almost universally packed in the sixteen- 

 quart crate. In the past, these fruits, especially the 

 strawberry, have been marketed in a great variety 

 of packages, but in recent years the sixteen-quart crate 





2714. A good commercial method of packing cauliflowers for 

 special trade. 



has rapidly become the standard and widely recognized 

 package. 



This package is also commonly used for the small- 

 fruit plums, especially Damsons, and for cherries, 

 both sweet and sour. 



The quart boxes are often taken into the field and 

 "picked into," and then carried to the packing-station 

 and placed in the case: or the fruit pickers use a special 

 picking-basket or -box, and this is delivered to the 

 packing-station and the quart boxes filled there, where 



