368 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



either end apple of a row into the box, it 

 can be put in, not in a perpendicular pos- 

 ition at first, but tilted slightly toward 

 the middle of the box, pressing it then 

 into place by turning it up perpendicular- 

 ly to the bottom of the box. This tends 

 to press the apples in the layer under- 

 neath toward the middle of the box. 

 heightening the crow^n, and allows the 

 end apple that is being placed to sink 

 lower into its pocket, lowering the end 

 of the pack. Care will have to be taken 

 in performing this operation not to press 

 so hard as to bruise the apples. One 

 frequently hears it stated that the ends 

 are to be kept low by the use of smaller 

 apples at the ends. This will bring the 

 desired result: but it is unnecessary 

 and undesirable, because breaking the 

 uniformity of size. 



Uniformity of Size 



Under our present system the packer 

 usually has some sorting for size to do 

 after the apples have left the graders and 

 come into his hands. Here he needs a 

 quick and exact eye. Regardless of his 

 natural ability, he also usually finds 

 that only practice enables him to do satis- 

 factory work rapidly. 



It is not usually supposed that separ- 

 ate packs are to be made for all the pos- 

 sible sizes, or counts, of a variety. As a 

 general rule, the smaller the apple, the 

 greater the difference allowable in the 

 number of apples to the box. 



Inability or carelessness in grading for 

 size sometimes causes packers to commit 

 what is jocosely called "the unpardon- 

 able sin in apple packing." or as it is 

 more technically expressed, "to break the 

 pack." By this is meant that the packer 

 constructs a layer containing too many or 

 too few apples, thus confusing the count. 

 For example: suppose he has packed four 

 layers of his box a three-two pack five- 

 five long, and for the top layer selects 

 smaller apples, making the rows six-five 

 long. The bottom four layers are four- 

 tier apples, 125 to the box. The top lay- 

 er contains four and one-half-tier apples, 

 138 to the box. In this case the value of 

 the apples in the top layer may be from 

 10 to 50 cents less per box than the ap- 



ples in the other layers. But the num- 

 ber stamped on the box will be deter- 

 mined by the number in the top layer. 

 The box will be stamped 138, classed and 

 sold as a box of four and one-half-tier ap- 

 ples, and the grower will not receive due 

 payment for four-fifths of the box. To 

 guard against breaking his pack, the pack- 

 er must be sure that the center of every 

 apple above the first layer fits exactly 

 over the interstice between the apples di- 

 rectly underneath. 



Fig. 3S. Example of Broken Pack. The ap- 

 ples are not kept directly over the spaces 

 beneath. This confuses the count. Usually 

 due to lack of uniformity in size. (New 

 York (Cornell J Experiment Station Bulletin 

 2981. 



Firmness 



The instructions to packers of the 

 Hood River Apple Growers' Union, Ore- 

 gon, for the year 1912, state: "A swell 

 on the box does not mean necessarily a 

 tight pack; the apples must be tight from 

 side to side and from end to end. The 

 Union wants a tight pack, but not so com- 

 pact as to bruise the apples." The cus- 

 tom of a judge at a box apple competition, 

 in passing upon the point of firmness, is 

 to try to wiggle with his hand the ap- 

 ples in each layer of the box as he goes 

 through it. He does not want to find 

 one apple in the box that his hand can 

 disturb. The ideal for firmness is that 

 the box without the cover can be set on 

 end and the apples not fall out. An in- 

 creasing number of persons do not agree 

 with this view on the point of firmness, 

 however, believing that a pack may be 

 loose and still be full, which they further 

 believe is all that is necessary. Their 

 argument is that if there is a large inter- 

 stice between the apples in any layer, it 

 only means that the apple directly above 



