42 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 



Hence, ungainly or unsightly packages could not be 

 used. 



All of these points must be considered and every pos- 

 sible step made to improve the convenience. Fourth, 

 packages must be durable. While they are made as 

 light as possible, they should not be so frail that many 

 of them reach their destination in a smashed or broken 

 condition. This ruins the fruit and, of course, reduces 

 the sale price of the product. Fifth, and last, the 

 packages must be sanitary. This is of growing impor- 

 tance at the present time and is justly so considered. 

 As the amount of fruit consumed in large cities grows 

 greater each year, more consideration must be given to 

 have this reach the buyer in a sanitary condition. 



The ideal package then, is clean, and neither old nor 

 soiled in any way, is not ornamented or decorated with 

 colored cloth or paints that might poison the fruit, and 

 every possible precaution is taken to get wholesome 

 fruit to the consumer. Much can be said in regard to 

 the handling of fruit and vegetables in the large cities. 

 Hucksters, push-carts, fruit stands and delivery wagons 

 are frequently not of the best sanitary type and the 

 consumer needs to be warned or the condition alleviated 

 by legislation. 



The Kinds of Packages. The size and kinds of 

 packages vary greatly in different sections of the country 

 and so far little effort has been made toward standard- 

 izing the sizes of packs in the different states and in 

 many cases, different parts of the same state. Apples 

 are usually shipped in barrels or boxes. Barrels are 

 the oldest, have been used the longest, and are most used 

 in the Eastern states. Barrels have been discarded in 



