70 INTENSIVE FARMING 



All picking should be done by hand and 

 with great care. If picking sacks are used 

 great care should be exercised in dumping 

 them; if baskets are used they should be lined 

 with cloth to prevent bruising; the fruit should 

 be placed gently in the receptacle, never 

 thrown, and when transferred to the sorting 

 table bruising and rough handling should be 

 avoided. 



Packing. During the last decade a great 

 change has taken place in the methods of pre- 

 paring apples for market. Great care is ex- 

 ercised to produce fruit of high grade, and 

 nowadays great care is taken to grade and pack 

 this high-grade fruit in an attractive manner. 

 A few years ago the fruit was picked from the 

 tree, placed directly in barrels, and sent to the 

 market. Now the fruit is graded and only 

 the best is shipped to market. All injured and 

 undersized fruit is utilized in the manufacture 

 of dried apples, cider, and vinegar. The good 

 fruits are carefully graded and in many local- 

 ities the choice specimens, which comprise pos- 

 sibly twenty per cent, of the crop, are carefully 

 graded according to size, color, and form and 

 packed into neat boxes holding one bushel. 



This box grade has proven worthy of the 

 care bestowed upon it, for in many cases the box 



