Packages for Fruits. 421 



kets are. Crates which are designed to be returned 

 to the grower are usually heavy, are commonly made 

 of sawed stuff, aud are provided with hinges and 

 clasps. In shipping long distances by rail, large 

 crates (holding as many as sixty baskets or cups) 

 are generally preferable, because there is less "side 

 shake," because of the greater bulk; and such heavy 

 packages are not so carelessly handled as the small 

 ones are. The time is rapidly coming when all the 

 better grades and better qualities of fruits will be 

 put up in special gift packages, and the time can- 

 not be far distant when pasteboard boxes will be 

 used to some extent. One of the most marked re- 

 sults of the recent advancement and competition in 

 the manufacture of products is the packing of single 

 articles in tasty boxes. Boots and shoes, for ex- 

 ample, were shipped loose in large cases a few years 

 ago, whilst now, in all of the better grades, every 

 pair is boxed by itself. In other words, not only 

 is the product itself a finished article, but it is 

 packed in a dainty and finished way, and the same 



The bushel box; 8. patent fruit barrel; 9. Highcliffe patent barrel for export 

 apples (arranged to be sawn in two without disturbing the fruit. 



With these packages the reader should compare Fij. 98, showing crates 

 actually sent into the New York market with pears. The grower was evi- 

 dently of an economical turn of mind, for he had made the packages of 

 the odds and ends of the place, old boards and old rail, a wagon-jack, and 

 a wagon-reach ! The New York party who sent us these packages wrote as 

 follows : " I found a new fruit package on the market here, and as I know 

 that you are deeply interested in horticulture, this will be of interest to you. 

 Tt was invented and manufactured by a man up the Hudson River, and was 

 used for shipping pears. The commission man who received this package 

 offered it, pears and all, for 25 cts., but could not sell. I requested him 

 to empty the fruit into a keg and let me have the package. He did so, 

 sorting out n few of the smallest fruits, and then sold th ken for $1." 



