126 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



quarts, for packing their small fruits 

 for shipping. It served an excellent 



54-QUART BERRY CRATE. 



purpose, and was very popular. Bat 

 there was a difficulty in getting them 

 promptly returned, and often many of 

 them would go astray. It was also a 

 great deal of trouble to the fruit mer- 

 chant to collect from his customers the 

 quart baskets, so as to retui-n them 

 safely to the shipper, as he was in duty 

 bound to do. The careful packer, too, 

 found that after two or three trips the 

 wooden crate became much racked, and 

 the baskets inside so soiled as to de- 

 ti-act veiy much from the appearance 

 of the fruit. 



The plan of using 



GIFT PACKAGES, 



made possible during the past two or 

 three years by the introduction of new 

 machinery into our basket factories, 

 has grown more and more popular in 

 Canada. 



First the little baskets were offered 

 cheap enough to be given away with 

 the fruit, and now the crate itself is 

 offered in the same way. 



To a Grimsby fruit-grower belongs 

 the honor of devising a basket-crate, 

 which is rapidly superceding 

 every other package for small 

 fruits, and which is now being 

 manufactui-ed by Mr. W. B. 

 Chisholm, of Oakville, as well as 

 at Grimsby. 



This basket-crat ^ holds twenty- 

 f^ur quart baskets, and is now 

 offered for sale at so reasonable 

 a price that it may be given 

 away with the fruit. This greatly 

 facilitates trade, and the distri- 

 bution of small fruits to distant 

 points all over our Province. 



Another advantage of this 

 crate is its handle. Express mes- 

 sengers are not always careful, 

 and a heavy box gets many a 

 toss, or fall, which a lighter 

 crate would naturally escape, 

 espe^^ially if it is provided with a 

 handle. The cover of the basket-crate 



24-QUART SHIPPPIKG BERRY BASKET. 



is usually fastened on with a piece of 

 wire or tin drawn over it near each 

 end ; but if a more secure way could be 

 planned of fastening the cover to hold 

 the fruit more snugly, so that it could 



