MARKETING. 45 



house after the crop begins to ripen nor is this the time 

 to build one. 



A good packing-house is airy and roomy, and so 

 constructed that all parts can be kept clean. It has 

 been demonstrated several times that vegetables have 

 contracted disease in the packing-house, and arrived 

 in the market in an unsalable condition. In several 

 cases this led to an annoying controversy, and one in 

 which both parties, being entirely sincere, were severe 

 losers the buyers in losing a very desirable trade and 

 the vegetable growers in having to pay for shipping a 

 quantity of worthless vegetables. We cannot say that 

 this was because of carelessness on the part of the veg- 

 etable-grower, but rather because of a lack of knowl- 

 edge on the subject. Diseased vegetables should not 

 be brought into the packing- house, nor should they be 

 left in the field ; this is a subject, however, that de- 

 serves special attention, and should be discussed at 

 length under the subject of plant diseases. 



The location of a packing-house must be decided by 

 each individual, as the points to be taken into consid- 

 eration are of an individual character. Where it is 

 possible to place it so the vegetables can be loaded di- 

 rectly on to the car, this will compensate for consider- 

 able disadvantage in other ways, as it saves one hand- 

 ling of full crates. After this, the question as to 

 whether it shall be in the field or near one's dwelling has 

 to be disposed of ; we must then examine the ground. 

 In the planning of a house a few general principles may 

 be given that will cover all kinds of vegetables; there 

 must be more or less variation in detail to suit the 

 kind of vegetable to be packed. The product should 

 enter on one side and be taken out on another. The 

 driveway to the entrance should be high enough so 

 the vegetables do not have to be lifted to the floor. 



