336 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Fig. 8. If the press has to be carried 

 about the orchard frequently, it may be 

 made much lighter by turning up the bot- 

 toms of the iron uprights in the form of 

 a hooli to clamp under the edge of the 

 barrel and discarding the heavy base." ° 



BOX PACKEVG 



Packing House 

 Necessity 



With the barrel as the package, it does 

 not so much matter where the packing is 

 to be done, whether in the orchard or in a 

 packing house, because of the rapidity 

 with which the crop is thus cared for; 

 but in the case of box packing, the ques- 

 tion is one of importance. In barrel pack- 

 ing, the important point as to this phase 

 of the question, is to keep the apples 

 cool from the time they are picked to the 

 time the packed barrels are placed in 

 storage, and if this can be accomplished 

 under the protection of an old shed, a 

 canvas awning, or of the trees themselves, 

 nothing more is necessary. In the sec- 

 tions where boxes are used, and especially 

 where wrapping is practiced, the grower 

 will, however, soon find a packing house 

 a necessity. The caprices of the autumn 

 weather will have anything but a desired 

 effect upon the condition of the apples and 

 the temper of the packers, and will often 

 retard the work. A truth not sufficiently 

 recognized is that the comfort of the 

 graders and packers has in most cases a 

 direct bearing upon the quality of their 

 work. 



Location 



Some growers prefer to build the pack- 

 ing house near the center of the orchard, 

 while others locate it near the exit from 

 the ranch: in either case it is usually in 

 a group with the other farm buildings. 

 A few are fortunate enoush to be able to 

 build it against a car siding. This point 

 will have to be determined by each grower 

 for himself, economy of labor and time 

 being the chief points to consider. 



fonstrnction 



No packing house is complete without 

 two compartments, one for at least tem- 



° W. H. Alderman. West Virginia Experiment 

 Station Bulletin l.in, 1912. 



porary storage, and the other for a grad- 

 ing and packing room. Although the ma- 

 jority of the packing houses in the North- 

 west probably possess but one; due to a 

 great extent to the fact that the necessity 

 of keeping fruit cool and at an even tem- 

 perature from the time of picking, has 

 not been appreciated. A few persons who 

 have built their storage rooms capable of 

 withstanding winter temperatures and 

 have sold their apples in early spring, 

 have paid for the house in one season by 

 the increased returns from the crop. 

 Where a hillside is available, some such 

 houses are built with a basement of con- 

 crete or masonry, the packing compart- 

 ment being on the upper floor. Where all 

 the second story is not needed for a sorting 

 and packing room, the remainder is used 

 for the storage of box material, for various 

 farm purposes, or is fitted up for addi- 

 tional winter storage. Not every farm 

 possesses a hillside, however, and a large 

 number of the most successful combined 

 packing and storage houses are built on 

 level ground. In the latter case the en- 

 tire building is usually of wood; and that 

 part intended for winter storage is con- 

 structed with insulated walls. Neither 

 the working nor the storage compartment 

 should be so large as to necessitate a 

 waste of steps in handling the fruit, yet 

 they should be planned with reference to 

 future needs. For the sake of conve- 

 nience the doors between the two com- 

 partments should be on the side of the 

 rooms rather than on the end. Every pack- 

 ing house should contain room for the 

 storage of box material, where it can be 

 kept away from the sun, dust and rain. 

 In very dry climates it is well, also, to 

 provide a room for the storage of wrap- 

 pin.g paper, where the humidity can be 

 regulated. Dry, brittle paper tears in 

 wrapping and does not handle so easily 

 and rapidly as when soft. A porous brick 

 floor that can be wet will serve for the lat- 

 ter purpose, the paper to be piled on a 

 platform of slats a few inches above the 

 floor. The cost of the packing house will 

 of course depend upon many factors. 

 Some of the newer houses erected in the 

 Northwest represent an outlay of from 

 two to seven thousand dollars. 



