300 



THE APPLE 



is a good plan to use a double layer of canvas and have the upper 

 piece fastened only at one side, to enable the packer readily to 

 shake off the dirt and leaves that accumulate. 



The position of the packers at work is facing the boxes. The 

 paper should be conveniently held at their left in a small tray 

 hooked over the edge of the box. The fruit is at their right, and is 

 selected and picked up in the right hand. A left-handed packer 

 should have his box rest on the reverse corner, which will bring 

 his left side to the table. 



Packing the box. Before placing the apples on the packing table, 

 they are usually graded into different sizes. The workman adapts 



the pack to the size of the 

 apple and the box. In the 

 West two kinds of packs 

 are commonly used — the 

 diagonal and the square or 

 straight. Of these two the 

 diagonal is much to be pre- 

 ferred, for it permits a wider 

 variation in the size of the 

 apples. In the square pack 

 the apples must be fairly uni- 

 form, since every apple rests 

 against the center of an- 

 other ; in the diagonal pack 

 the apple rests in the center of the space between two or four 

 others. Hence, when the top of the box is nailed down a certain 

 amount of pressing could take place in the diagonal pack without 

 bruising the fruit, whereas only a slight pressing would bruise the 

 fruit in the square pack. With a certain few sizes of apples it is 

 necessary to use the square pack. 



The diagonal pack shown at the right in Fig. 1 34 is known as 

 the 3-2 pack, and the box at the left is called the 2-2 pack, the 

 figures referring to the number of apples in the cross rows. The 

 packs are further distinguished by the number of apples in the rows 

 running lengthwise. The rows in the 2-2 pack may be of equal 

 length, or two of them may each contain one apple more than 

 the others. Thus, to describe the pack more fully one would say 



Starting a 2-2 d 

 onal pack 



Starting a 3-2 diag 

 onal pack 



[34. A Northwest Special box 



