PACKING 309 



the bed are slats 1 inch square spaced 1 inch apart. The legs of 

 the lower end of the table are 39 inches high, to allow the bottom 

 of the bed to clear the top of the barrel, and the legs at the upper 

 end are 45 inches high, giving a 6-inch pitch to the table. The 

 apples can be easily inspected as they roll into the apron, and im- 

 perfect ones thrown out. When the apron is filled, it should be 

 slowly lowered into the barrel without bruising the fruit. This 

 packing table may be mounted on wheels for use in the orchard, 

 or may be built larger, with two funnels, allowing two barrels to 

 be filled at once. 



To face a barrel properly requires some skill and care. The real 

 object of facing is to give the barrel an attractive appearance when 

 opened and not, as is too often the case, to deceive the purchaser. 

 The fruit used for facing should represent, so far as size is con- 

 cerned, the general run of the whole barrel. One reason for not 

 picking out the largest apples for facers is that these are often 

 poorly colored and do not make so good an appearance as the 

 medium-sized specimens. All the face apples should be of uniform 

 size and well colored. Beginning on the outer edge, they should 

 be arranged stem down in concentric circles until the head is cov- 

 ered. Care should be taken to select fruit that will fill the circles 

 without leaving spaces or requiring any to be placed on edge. 

 When the center is reached, it should be filled with one, three, or 

 four apples. Never use an apple that is larger or smaller than the 

 others to fill out the center space, for this would spoil the looks of 

 the whole face. Of apples measuring from 3 to 3-| inches in di- 

 ameter, the outer circle will require 15, the second ring 9, and the 

 center 3. The next smaller size that can be used measures from 

 2'\ to 2 1 inches in diameter. It will take 17 of these to fill the 

 outer circle, 1 1 to fill the second, and 4 to fill the center. A size 

 of fruit intermediate between these two could not be used. Many 

 growers face all their barrels with these two sizes'. 



If the fruit runs smaller than either of these two sizes, it will be 

 necessary to select that size which will make three circles and leave 

 the center to be filled with one apple. In the case of very large 

 apples, like the Fallawater, they may be arranged in two circles 

 with one apple in the center. Only one layer of facers is necessary, 

 but the packer should place over the interspaces of this layer a few 



