STANDARD SIZES OF FRUIT PACKAGES. 



tfTf^ BILL introduced by Mr. Penny 

 // \ \ to define the sizes of small- 

 /[ ) \ fruit packages was given its 

 first reading in the House of 

 Commons on April 13th. The object 

 is to arrive at a standard measure of 

 quart, pint and half-pint baskets, used 

 in buying and selling strawberries, rasp- 

 berries, blackberries, currants, and other 

 small fruits. The bill demands that 

 the standard quart when even full shall 

 contain sixty-seven cubic inches. The 

 standard quart basket shall be 5% 

 inches on each side at the top, and 4^ 

 inches on each side at the bottom, and 

 2ji inches deep. The standard pint 

 basket shall be oblong, and the inside 

 measurement at the top shall be 5^ 

 inches by 3^ inches, and at the bottom 

 4^ inches by 2^ inches, and it shall 

 be 2j4 inches deep. The dimensions 

 of half-pint baskets are also defined as 

 3^5 inches on each side at the top, and 

 2^ inches on each side at the bottom, 

 by 1 ^ inches deep, all inside measure- 

 ments The Bill also enacts that 

 makers of baskets of less size or capa- 

 city, shall mark the word " short " on 

 the outside in letters not less than one- 

 half inch in height. The penalty for 

 selling " short " baskets of fruit not so 

 marked will, upon summary conviction, 

 be a fine of not less than five dollars 

 and not more than twenty-five dollars. 

 The Act is not to come into force until 

 May 1 st, 1900. 



In order to arrive at the probable 

 effect of such an Act, we interviewed a 

 number of fruit dealers who claim that 

 such a provision, if it can be properly 

 carried out, will do away with much 

 dissatisfaction to both dealers and con- 

 sumers, as many of the so-called twelve- 

 quart baskets contain not more than 

 frcm ten to eleven quarts, and smaller 

 packages in the same proportion. 

 While the dealers interviewed could see 

 considerable difficulty in having such a 

 regulation carried out, they were of 

 opinion that it is just what is needed, 

 especially with Canadian fruit. The 

 greatest difficulty, however, was ob- 

 served in the way such regulations 

 would effect foreign fruit, such as straw- 

 berries, of which we get great quantities 

 during the early season, as the cases 

 from the various States differ widely in 

 form if not size. It is claimed that 

 there is little to complain of in the mat- 

 ter of shortage in the American cases — 

 in fact, far less than in Canadian — but 

 as the Bill demands cases of certain di- 

 mensions, an effort to compel the use of 

 a regular form of box in place of those 

 of a different form now in use for the 

 shipment of fruit from foreign countries, 

 and which are already large enough, 

 would be to little purpose and well-nigh 

 impossible of enforcement without seri- 

 ously interfering with the trade. — Farm- 

 ers' Advocate. 



Origin of the Catawba — It is a 

 fact that the Catawba grape was found 

 wild in the woods of Buncombe county, 

 N.C., about ten miles southeast ofAshe- 

 ville. In 1807 Senator Davey, who 

 lived on the Catawba river, transplanted 

 some of the vines to his farm, and some 

 time between that year and 181 6 

 brought cuttings of his vines to Wash- 



ington and gave them to some friends 

 in Maryland. The Scholl vine un- 

 doubtedly came from these cuttings. 

 American horticulturists are agreed in 

 the opinion that the Catawba is purely 

 a native grape, without the slightest 

 admixture from European kinds. — N 

 Y. Trade Bui. 



258 



