NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 89 



man wants. That is \vhat makes one bushel of apples from 

 Tasmania sell for as much or more than three bushels in a 

 barrel from the States. 



This box that the Tasmanians ship in is about twenty- 

 two inches long', eleven and one-half inches wide, and ten 

 and one-fourth inches deep, outside measurement, and 

 holds fifty pounds of apples. Here in America where you 

 pack your apples in barrels, you put a few good apples at 

 the bottom of the barrel and a few good apples at the top, 

 and too often hll up the middle with apples that should 

 never be shipped at all ; they are only fit for evaporation 

 or making cider ; but if they must be shipped, ship them 

 as culls and you will get as much for them, as culls, as you 

 will for the whole quantity shipped in the way you are now 

 doing. Then you have three different sizes of barrels — 

 large, medium and small. The English have become sus- 

 picious of the American apple, and they are not sold at 

 auction unopened, like the Tasmanian apples; they must 

 be opened up and inspected; sample barrels are opened 

 and emptied on the Avarehouse floor, inspected and priced 

 accordingly, which is always low, only estimating on the 

 poorest in the barrel and allowing nothing for the best. 

 All Tasmanian apples that are packed up to the required 

 standard are stamped and guaranteed by the Sidney Board 

 of Trade, and it is this guarantee which helps to sell them. 

 When we see that stamp of the Sidney Board of Trade we 

 know the goods are all right, and they are sold at sight. 



Out of the enormous number of fruit growers in the 

 United States, only one or two have ever come over to 

 England to make a study of our methods. 



These were from California and they are now putting 

 their apples up in boxes, with the result that they sell at 

 the same price as the Tasmanian apples. I have yet to 

 see boxes of apples from these firms sell for less than 

 $3- 75- We have come to know their brand and when we 

 see it we know it is absolutely honestly packed and it is 

 sold without question or opening. These boxes are less 

 expensive to make than the barrels; the sides are orange 

 veneer shook, the ends are three-fourths of a inch thick 

 and bound with wire when ready to ship. The apples are 



