The Packing 



393 



When packing apples and pears in kegs or barrels, it 

 is not always necessary to place every individual ; and yet, 

 if the packages are to go abroad, it is ordinarily best to 

 take this pains, laying all the fruits in tiers, for thereby 

 there is tight packing and little shrinkage; and when one 

 handles his fruit so carefully he is constantly throwing 

 out the inferior samples. As apples are ordinarily handled 

 for our domestic trade, however, they are faced only 

 on the two ends. They ought always to be faced on one 



FIG. 159. Well-packed Esopus 

 Spitzenburg apples, removed from 

 storage in March. 



FIG. 160. "Slack"-packed North- 

 ern Spy apples removed from stor- 

 age in March. 



end. This facing is done by choosing apples of uniform 

 grade and placing them in concentric rows on the lower 

 head or end of the barrel. About two or three tiers should 

 be faced, the rings of one tier breaking joints with those 

 of another. The stem-end should point toward the head 

 of the barrel. The apples in the middle of the barrel may 

 be turned in from a round-bottomed swing-handle basket, 

 that can be let directly into the barrel (or from a smaller 

 basket that will turn in the barrel), and after every basket 

 is emptied the barrel should be lightly shaken to settle the 

 fruits. It is advisable to face the upper end of the barrel 

 before the head is placed in, but this is not always done. 



