The Packing of Fruit 395 



Red apples sell better than solid green ones, as a rule. Soft summer 

 varieties do not ship well. 



Picking the fruit. Apples intended for export should be picked 

 earlier than for the home trade, but not when green and immature. 

 It is largely the beauty of the American apple which sells it; there- 

 fore, the color should be well advanced before the apple is picked. 

 Hand-pick the finest very carefully. It is advisable to barrel and 

 ship as soon as picked, rather than to store the fruit for some days 

 in piles in the orchard. 



Packing. Sort carefully. Very fine fruit should be marked 

 "Fancy" or "Selected," with four X's (XXXX), and with the 

 grower's or shipper's name or initials. The second grade should be 

 good, and marked with three X's. Nothing lower than this should 

 be exported. The English law requires that the package be plainly 

 marked "American Produce." Use only standard-size barrels. Put 

 in a double row of facers. Apples somewhat soft in texture, like 

 Greenings, may be pressed down a full inch in barreling, but hard 

 apples should not be squeezed so much. Nail the barrels securely. 

 If the apples become loose in transit, they will be very much injured. 



Methods of sale. Apples are sold in the English markets by 

 sample. Two barrels of a lot are selected, one opened to show the 

 packing, the other turned out so that every apple can be seen. The 

 lot is then sold at auction. The first day of sale they are sold as 

 "sound." These are delivered within twenty-four hours. Any loose 

 barrels, known as "slacks" or "slack-packed," and any from which 

 the juice is running, called "wets," are closed out at the succeed- 

 ing sale. 



Fruits intended for the dessert may often be put into 

 the consumer's hands in superior condition by wrapping 

 them in soft grocer's paper, of the kind ordinarily called 

 tea-paper, or, when the product is especially choice, and 

 the grower has a large quantity, it may pay him to use a 

 grade of tissue-paper. There are many middlemen who prac- 

 tise this careful packing, and growers may often imitate 

 them with profit. With pears or apples, the inside of the 

 keg or barrel is lined with newspapers or other grades, and 

 each fruit is individually wrapped in soft manila paper. Such 



