262 GRADING AND PACKING 



In western sections we have also the four-basket carrier and th( 

 peach box. The box is 18 inches long by lli/o inches wide and 

 is made in three different depths — 1, 4i/2 and 5 inches. 



Plums are packed in practically the same packages as peaches. 



Cherries go to market principally in two kinds of packages, 

 either in strawberry baskets and crates or, the fancy western 

 cherries, in boxes varying in capacity from eight to thirty pounds. 

 Sometimes these fancy cherries are also packed in one-pound 

 cartons. 



Packing Apples. — Since the barrel must long remain the most 

 important package for apples it seems worth while to discuss, 



Fig. 125. — Stemmers; shears for removing the sterna from the face apples when packing 

 in barrels. 



in some detail, the equipment for packing apples in barrels and 

 the operation of so packing them. 



The table for barrel packing ought to be fairly large, for, the 

 fruit being rarely graded beforehand, the operator needs a 

 rather large supply from which to choose. A table which is 

 three by six feet and six inches deep (with six-inch boards 

 around) will be found a good size, and the sides and bottom 

 should be padded with or made of burlap or some such material 

 to keep the fruit from bruising. A table of this size which is 

 mounted upon two carpenter's "horses," instead of having 

 rigid legs of its own, can be hung up on the wall out of the way 



