350 



pounds. But as this is commonly understood, and the grapes are sold 

 by the basket and not by the pound, no one is greatly deceived. 



The basket is made of thin 

 wood veneer, with a light wood 

 binding at top and bottom. 

 The light wooden cover is 

 fastened on with a special clasp. 

 Strawberries and other berries 

 until of late years were amongst 

 the most difficult of our garden 

 The Grape Basket. fruit to market. Since then a 



fresh spurt has been given to their culture owing to more perfect 



methods of picking and packing. 



A few cardinal points must be observed in order to obtain full 

 value in the open market. The picking must be done with neat- 

 ness, thoroughness, and honesty. The berries should hardly be 

 touched with the hands, but the stalk nipped off between the finger 

 and nail. 



As the berries are picked they are carefully dropped into small 

 wooden punnets holding either one pint or one quart ; these pun- 

 nets should not be filled too high, and it is permissible to place on 

 top some attractive berries. As the picking proceeds the fruit is 

 graded early in the season into two grades, and later on, when 

 the full season comes, all inferior and damaged berries should go to 

 the jam cask. The packing, however, should be honestly done, and 

 all damaged, inferior, or unripe berries excluded from the packages 

 of first-class fruit. At this stage it should be the growers' business 

 to closely supervise the work of the pickers and promptly weed out 

 any showing careless, slovenly habits. 



The punnets as well as the crates should not be left exposed to 

 the hot sun or the wind ; they are not lined with fancy paper or 

 packing of any sort, although a few leaves will add to the appear- 

 ance of the fruit. As these punnets are filled they are placed in 

 layers in crates ; when one layer is ready, a piece of cardboard or 

 some thin boards are placed over it, and another layer of punnets 

 set, and so on until the crate is filled, when the lid is fastened down 

 and the package is ready for conveying to considerable distances, 

 care being taken not to turn the crates upside down. The Sydney 

 and the Melbourne markets are in this way supplied, early in the 

 season, with Queensland strawberries. For long keeping and for 

 distant markets the berries should be picked before they are over- 

 ripe, and of course, the firm-fleshed varieties are for that purpose 

 more suitable than the more tender ones. 



Foremost amongst these in the estimation of our growers is the 

 Paxton, with the Edith following, whilst the Marguerite and the 

 Noble however desirable in many other respects, often reach market 

 with a notable proportion of the berries bruised and crushed. 



The crates used by our strawberry growers hold 401bs. to 501bs. 

 of strawberries. It is essential that they should be well ventilated. 



