Marketing 79 



a good packing-house. When vegetables and fruit are 

 ready for the market, they must be sent out — they cannot 

 wait. One cannot stop to plan a packing-house after the 

 crop begins to ripen, nor is this the time to build one. 



A good packing-house is airy and roomy, and so con- 

 structed that all parts can be kept clean. It has been 

 demonstrated repeatedly that vegetables have contracted 

 disease in the packing-house, and arrived in the market 

 in an unsalable condition. In several cases this has led 

 to an annoying controversy, and one in which both parties, 

 being entirely sincere, were severe losers, the buyers in 

 losing a desirable trade, and the vegetable-growers in 

 having to pay for shipping a quantity of worthless vege- 

 tables. We cannot say that this was because of careless- 

 ness on the part of the vegetable-growers, but rather be- 

 cause of a lack of knowledge on the subject. Diseased 

 vegetables should not be brought into the packing-house, 

 nor should they be left in the field ; this is a subject, how- 

 ever, that deserves special attention, and is discussed 

 under the subject of plant diseases. Chapter VIII. 



The location of a packing-house must be decided by 

 each individual, as the points to be taken into considera- 

 tion are of an individual character. When it is possible 

 to place it so that the vegetables can be loaded directly 

 on to the car, this will compensate for considerable dis- 

 advantage in other ways, as it saves one handling of full 

 crates. When this is not practicable, the question as to 

 whether it shall be in the field or near one's dwelling has to 

 be considered. 



In the planning of a house, a few general principles may 

 be given that will cover all kinds of vegetables ; there must 



