NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 47 



At the close of Mr. Blodget's very interesting address, 

 the following questions were put to the speaker: 



Question— Mr. J. S. Kirkham: Will Mr. Blodgett tell 

 us how to pack a barrel of apples? 



Answer — Mr. Blodget: What I called right packing, 

 others might not. In the first place you have got to start 

 with good fruit. And to get good fruit you must be care- 

 ful how it picked. You want to pick right into your 

 basket. It is a good idea to hang the basket in the tree and 

 so be able to lay the apples as picked right into the basket, 

 and not throw them into the basket, and so run the risk of 

 bruising them. Then you want to get clean barrels, not 

 some old flour barrels, but good, new barrels are the best. 

 Of course, you some times have to use old barrels, espe- 

 cially this year, when they have been so scarce. But 

 always have new barrels if you can get them. Then 

 double face your apples at the bottom, using nice apples 

 with stems on ; then the next basket you put in wants to be 

 pretty good apples, although of course you want good 

 apples all the way thiough, I should first put a paper in 

 the bottom of the barrel before this facing, and I should 

 have my brand on this paper. There is a special barrel 

 head paper, cut to fit the head, now on the market; it has a 

 smooth, white surface on one side and the other a corru- 

 gated surface, which gives considerable elasticity and 

 relieves the pressure on the apples. 



After you have put in one basket of apples, shake the 

 barrel down very carefully; in fact, they should be very 

 carefully shaken down after putting in each basket. Fill 

 your barrel up to about one and one-half inches above the 

 chime and then press down very carefully and put in the 

 head. Some people use one layer of poor apples to press 

 against. I think I should also face the top of the barrel. 

 In Boston we have to open the top of one barrel and 

 then the bottom of another, and so it is necessary to have 

 both ends look equally well. 



In reply to question of Mr. Ives, Mr. Blodget said he 

 should use the very best and highestc olored apples for 

 the facing. 



