The Canadian Horticulturist. 



263 



PACKING FRUIT FOR MARKET. 



PEAKING of apples and pears, Ellwanger & Barry say, in 

 American Garde?/, that the fruit is dropping badly, and 

 consequently the crop will be smaller than usual. Their 

 method is to pack choice pears in bushel kegs, and plums 

 in fifteen pound boxes. Another expert advises packing 

 all summer pears while still hard. They will ripen rapidly 

 when once packed, much more so than is generally supposed Each specimen 

 should be handled most carefully, conveyed to the packing house in a spring 

 wagon, with as little exposure to the sun as possible, and there allowed to cool 

 before it is placed in the shipping packages. This point is very important. 

 When in a condition for packing the fruit should be sorted by hand directly into 

 kegs or barrels. The pears should be placed carefully in layers, observing uni- 

 formity in size and quality in all packages, and the outside marked to corres- 

 pond, so that no person purehasing will be deceived. When the fruit is scarce 

 the bushel keg is the most suitable, when abundant, the half barrel is to be pre- 

 ferred ; the full sized barrel is not in any case suitable for a choice quality of 

 pears, especially in hot weather. 



In handling plums, this writer advises still greater care than with pears. 

 The trees need picking over several times as the different varieties color and 

 ripen. The fruit is picked with such care as not to disturb the bloom and as 

 quickly as possible taken into the shade of the packing house and there care- 

 fully packed in layers in boxes or packages in which they are to be shipped. 

 They ought to be packed so tightly that they will not move about. It will be 

 found wise to use baskets of different sizes, holding five, ten or fifteen pounds 

 each. The fruit that is quite ripe may be handled and marketed best in five 

 pound baskets. For second grade or cheap and common varieties, the fifteen 

 pound box may be used to the best advantage. 



The points made by our American friends are all good, and, for the most 

 part, are similar to those observed by the best Canadian fruit-growers. We 

 have constantly taken care, in these pages, to emphasize the extretne importance 

 of the careful handling of all our best fruits in order to get the best prices, 

 whether in the home or the foreign markets. 



Sulphide of Potassium. — This remedy for mildew has now been exten- 

 sively used by our leading gardeners. As it is a remedy, at once cheap and 

 effectual, I am anxious to make its merits as widely known as possible among 

 my fellow amateurs and gardeners generally. As mildew is common this year 

 in (England), I hope every one who is troubled with this pest will test the sul- 

 phide and report whether it proves successful or not. — Gardening World. 



