PACKING AND SHIPPING VEGETABLES. 167 



100, they will, when put into close cars, soon develop a 

 temperature 20 or 30 higher consequent upon a fermen- 

 tation which might otherwise be avoided, or certainly 

 deferred. 



Pack snugly, using just enough force to place them 

 sufficiently tight to prevent shifting. Avoid baskets, as 

 top weight injures specimens at bottom. See to it par- 

 ticularly that every package contains uniform specimens. 

 Do not mix culls or second grade stock with first class, 

 for by so doing the contents of a full package is rated at 

 the market value of the lower grade which it contains. 



Outwardly, packages should be neat and attractive, 

 as first appearances influence values. Every thoughtful 

 shipper of vegetables or fruits is not only led to pack uni- 

 formly throughout his crates, but to ship in crates bear- 

 ing his name, so that what reputation he makes for him- 

 self may benefit him through dealers knowing his name 

 and address. Oranges and vegetables from certain par- 

 ties in Florida have brought much better prices and met 

 with quicker sales than equally good products from other 

 parties, simply because the brand on the package was a 

 positive guarantee of quality. 



The market is seldom broken in prices by good fruits 

 or vegetables ; it is the misshapen, unripe and badly 

 selected products which injure the sale of a better article. 

 The inexperienced grower of vegetables or fruits does not 

 have a conception of how the crates are handled before 

 reaching the possession of the retail dealer. Depot por- 

 ters, freight handlers, expressmen, draymen, storekeep- 

 ers, all working in a hurry and doing their share to shake 

 up and crush the contents, if not to break the package. 

 It may be safely estimated that an ordinary crop is han- 

 dled fourteen or fifteen times before reaching the con- 

 sumer. 



The shipper must not imagine that his goods are 

 to receive special attention from transportation compa- 



