268 Fruit-growing in Arid Regions 



peaches in bushel baskets ; and almost as ridiculous to 

 attempt to market apples and pears in barrels. The 

 form of the package, and possibly its size, have been 

 determined largely by conditions under which the western 

 grower markets his product. The peach box, for example, 

 is designed to reduce the loss from bruising to a minimum. 

 The same is true of other packages; they are designed 

 to carry fruit long distances. The western package is 

 generally small as compared with other packages, and it 

 is a favorite with consumers who do not care to take the 

 risk of buying in larger quantities. A neat package is 

 without question an advertisement for the fruit. 



Granting that our growers are satisfied with the package 

 in which they market their fruit, the question of grading 

 and packing is well worthy of consideration. The co- 

 operative fruit-growers' association has done much to 

 establish a uniform system of grading and packing fruit. 

 Yet the writers are of the opinion that at the present 

 time the management of some of our associations need 

 arousing, that they may keep abreast of the times. Our 

 growers are now allowing the fancy fruit-growing sections 

 in the Northwest to take the lead, especially in grading 

 and packing apples. So far we seem to be at the front 

 in grading and packing pears and peaches; but even here 

 competition will no doubt force us to improve on present 

 methods. While many growers now contend that the 

 present method of grading places the standard for fancy 

 fruit too high, the writers expect soon to see the re- 

 quirements raised for the different grades; and they will 

 be raised at the request of progressive growers. When 

 we say that the management of the association needs 



