PACKING FOR MARKET 333 



By turning the fruit up, the stem is snapped from the spur at the 

 natural joint for separation. 



Pears may be wrapped in paper, stored in boxes and kept in a 

 cool, dry cellar. It is important to keep them away from the light. 

 During this period of course they can be shipped long distances 

 if desired. Even the soft pears such as Bartlett and Lawrence 

 will require a week or two for the final ripening period after pick- 

 ing. Such pears as the Keiffer are usually ripened in bulk and may 

 be stored for a longer period without damage. 



Grading Fruit for Market. It is not easy for the beginner to 

 determine the grades of fruit. Experience in the work along with 

 other graders and pickers will aid materially in fixing the grades 

 in mind. Just what makes up the first grade in any kind of fruit 

 will be learned accurately by association and handling of the fruit 

 itself. The importance of grading to suit the markets where the 

 fruit is sold is often not recognized nor well understood by inex- 

 perienced growers. Too often fruit is sent to market without 

 grading. The first grade will bring a better price if separate from 

 the remainder, .and even the second grade fruit will bring as high 

 as the mixture would have brought. Thus it is more profitable 

 to the fruit man to carefully sort the fruit and sell it in its different 

 grades than to "dump" it all on the market together (Fig. 223). 



Packing for Market. As the sorting is done the fruit is packed 

 in receptacles in which it is to be sold. The so-called ' 'gift pack- 

 age" is commonly found for all kinds of fruits. Comparatively 

 few fruits are now marketed in other ways. Special baskets (Fig. 

 224 and 225) are used for peaches and plums. Some of these are 

 also occasionally used for apples, but more commonly apples are 

 packed in boxes holding approximately one bushel. The use of 

 barrels for marketing apples is still quite common in the eastern 

 and southern states, and here we find an exception to the use of 

 the "gift package" in marketing the crop. Usually berries are 

 packed in their own quart or pint boxes and these are regularly 

 placed in crates, the whole being shipped by express or in refrig- 

 erator cars by freight. The crates and boxes (Figs. 226 and 227) 

 are not returned, but are delivered to the consumer. 



Special methods are used in packing any one kind of fruit in 

 its own type of package. For example, in apple boxes the layers 

 of apples are placed mainly according to fixed rules of practice 

 and the rows are arranged in certain fixed ways under each system. 

 The size of the fruit often governs the system in this regard. In 



