396 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Another mistake that is being con- 

 stantly made by growers and shippers is 

 in putting too many barrels in one car. 

 In many cases they are piled five tiers 

 high, and if the car happens to be opened 

 on the opposite side from which it was 

 loaded at the iruithouse, it is very diffi- 

 cult to get the top barrels out without in- 

 juring them, and after the barrels in the 

 center of the car have been removed very 

 many of them get badly bumped while be- 

 ing taken down during the unloading 

 process, notwithstanding the care taken 

 by the men who handle them from car 

 to ship. The barrels are rolled out on 

 the shed floor, and are taken in slings 

 and lowered into the ship, six at a time, 

 and stowed five tiers high. 



Speaking generally, I would say there 

 is room for improvement in a great many 

 ways in the handling of the apple crop 



in Nova Scotia from the time the fruit is 

 fullgrown on the tree until it finds its 

 way into the markets of the world, and 

 this applies to local as well as export 

 trade. In the first place, more care 

 should be exercised in the picking, so 

 that the fruit is not bruised by being 

 thrown into the basket, and then dumped 

 carelessly from the basket into the bar- 

 rels. This also applies to the re-packing 

 in the fruit houses. Apples should al- 

 ways be handled in such a manner that 

 they will not be bruised. This can be 

 done, and will be done when growers 

 realize that when they are handling 

 apples roughly they are simply throwing 

 money away. When a barrel of nicely 

 handled fruit, free from bruises, will sell 

 for $3 on a good market, a barrel of badly 

 handled, bruised fruit will only sell for 

 $2, even if the fruit in both barrels were 

 taken from the same tree. 



Cost of Hauling to Market 



Table Ko. 1. — Average cost of hauling products from farms to shipping points: 

 Totals for States represented. 



a Kentucky only, b Average for six States only, c Iowa only. 



