144 VEGETABLE GROWING. 



nate quite well and who are not rough with the vege- 

 tables should be employed. At convenient places in 

 the field boxes are placed ; these boxes are about ten 

 inches wide, fourteen deep, and thirty long ; they hold 

 about two crates. In making such boxes it will be 

 found best not to leave any cracks open and to make 

 them of whole boards ; this lessens the danger of in- 

 juring the fruit. Strips are nailed across the ends, 

 which serve as handles and at the same time give ad- 

 ditional strength to the box. It is quite desirable to 

 make the box large enough to hold about two crates, 

 as this weight usually requires the attention of the per- 

 son handling it, and there will be less danger of care- 

 lessness. 



PACKING HOUSE. 



It is very desirable to have the packing house located 

 at a depot or railway switch, so the crated vegetables 

 can be loaded directly on the car ; this will save one 

 handling, and consequently compensate for a consider- 

 able haul. If, however, the packing house is so far 

 that the fruit must be handled, it should then be 

 placed as near the center of the field as possible. 

 There are a good many reasons why a packing house 

 should not be near dwellings. 



The interior of the packing house should be arranged 

 so that the boxes are received from the wagon and set 

 on the floor without any high lifting ; they should be 

 on a level with the sorter's bench. As any lifting is an 

 absolute loss, we can see the force of the argument that 

 the packing house be planned carefully. After the 

 tomatoes are received, they should be sorted immedi- 

 ately and the different kinds placed in separate places 

 to be packed. The person placed at the sorter's bench 

 must be quick at discriminating and active with his 

 hands. Chutes can be arranged to carry the fruit to 



