Packing and Grading the Fruit 283 



in regular tiers, it is best to place the apples in the top 

 and bottom tier stems outward. 



Packing Apricots 



Apricots are packed for shipment in the common four- 

 basket carrier, which is used for grapes and plums. The 

 inside measurement of this crate is 16 x 16 x 4^ inches, 

 and it carries four wood-veneer boxes, each 8 inches 

 square and 4 inches deep. The way in which the fruit 

 is packed depends on its size. The fruit must be large 

 enough to fill the basket and stand high enough to touch 

 the lid when packed three-tier. This requires a fruit 

 with one diameter of at least 1J inches, and to pack apri- 

 cots of this size, it is necessary to stand them on end and 

 place one directly over the other. Fruit of this size does 

 not make a satisfactory pack, and a size large enough to 

 work with the diamond pack is desirable; this bruises 

 the fruit less. 



The empty baskets are placed in the crate and packed 

 with paper between each two layers of fruit. This paper is 

 a continuous strip, first running across the bottom and 

 then over each layer of fruit by being worked back and 

 forth across the basket. With the third tier in place 

 the end should be long enough to cover the face of the 

 basket. The fruit is placed in any position to pack to 

 the best advantage. When the four baskets are full, 

 the face of the crate should have the appearance of that 

 of a solid box of fruit. The fruit should be snugly packed 

 in each tier, and the last tier must stand high enough to 

 give a slight bulge to the cover. Both the bottom and 

 the top of the crate are cleated to relieve the bulge of 

 any pressure in stacking the crates. 



