Handling the Fruit 91 



The packers stand with one side to the table. A peach 

 is picked up in one hand and a paper in the other, the paper 

 being caught about the center between the thumb and 

 first finger in such a manner that the paper lays flat on 

 the palm of the hand. The peach is then quickly placed 

 in the center of the paper, and the paper closed over the 

 fruit by closing the fingers and finally finished by a deft 

 little twist into the box so that the corners close over the 

 fruit and serve as a pad between the box and fruit. After 

 the first layer has been completed the second layer is put 

 in in the same manner, and the box is ready for the nailing 

 press. 



There are many styles of arranging peaches in the 

 boxes, depending largely on the size and shape of the 

 fruit. It is of great assistance to the inexperienced pack- 

 ers to have a "size board" or specimen peaches of the dif- 

 ferent grades continually before them, so that by compar- 

 ing these frequently the grades can be kept quite constant. 

 The ''straight" pack in which the fruit is arranged in 

 straight rows up and down and across the box is the sim- 

 plest style of packing and one that has been extensively 

 used, but is being displaced by the "diamond" or "diag- 

 onal" pack, since in the straight pack each fruit rests 

 directly on top of others and is thus more easily bruised. 

 In the diamond pack the fruits are placed so that each 

 specimen is in the hollow between several others, and long 

 experience has shown that this style of packing causes less 

 damage than the straight pack. 



The diamond packs are arranged so that the peaches 

 come in double rows across the box containing 2-2, 3-2, 

 3-3, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, etc., corresponding to the "half tiers" in 

 the boxed apple package. In this style of packing, the 

 "3-2" for example, three peaches are placed in the lower 

 end of the box, one in each 'corner, and the third exactly 

 in the middle. In the second row there are only two 

 peaches which are placed in the spaces between those in 

 the first row. In the third row three peaches are placed 

 in the spaces left by the fruit in the second row, and come 

 directly above the fruit in the first row, In the fourth 



