TOMATOES 441 



begins to change from a deep green to a light green or white, and 

 at this stage, if they are to be shipped long distances, the fruits 

 should be harvested. For home markets, however, the fruits should 

 be allowed to ripen upon the plant. In harvesting, none except 

 sound fruits of the same stage of maturity should be harvested and 

 packed in any one receptacle. Leaky fruits and deformed fruits 

 should be rejected. 



In packing for market, tomatoes that are symmetrical in form, 

 uniform in size, and of a like degree of ripeness should be selected 

 for filling any one receptacle. Where the fruits are to be shipped 

 long distances and have been picked in an immature state, the in- 

 dividual fruits should be wrapped in thin, . pliable brown or white 

 paper, similar in grade to tea paper. When so wrapped and packed 

 in small receptacles they may be shipped several hundred miles and 

 go upon the market in good condition. For long-distance shipments 

 it is the common practice to employ the six-basket carrier now so 

 universally used for peaches. As in the shipment of peaches, the 

 wrapped fruits are carefully placed in the carrier baskets and the 

 baskets in turn packed in a carrier. A flat box from 1 8 to 20 inches 

 square and about 5 inches deep, which will carry two layers of 

 wrapped fruit, is now quite extensively used in some sections of 

 the country. The preference in packages, however, seems to be 

 in favor of the six-basket carrier. 



Formerly tomatoes which were grown and shipped less than a 

 hundred miles were packed in flat, handled baskets. A shallow 

 basket made of splints with a folding handle or with one upright 

 handle was employed. These baskets held a little less than a half 

 bushel. Fruits were gathered as soon as partially colored, carefully 

 arranged in the baskets, and the baskets covered with tinted mos- 

 quito bar. This style of shipment is not now very generally prac- 

 ticed, except where the fruits are to be carried short distances. 

 Fruits intended for the canning factory are allowed to mature upon 

 the vines, are packed in the short, flat, handled baskets described 

 above, or in Delaware baskets, or in bushel boxes, and are carried 

 directly to the factory. The bushel box or slatted crate is probably 

 more generally employed for this purpose than any other form of 

 receptacle. The riper the tomato the more easily it can be injured 

 and the more carefully it should be prepared for market. 



