Boxing Apples 405 



Packing. — Before placing the apples on the. packing-table they 

 are usually graded into different sizes. The grading is done by men 

 who are trained for the work. They take the fruit from the boxes 

 as it comes to the packing-house from the orchard and grade it into 

 different sizes. It is then placed on a table, where it is ready for the 

 packer. For growers in the East who are beginners it may be help- 

 ful to use a sizer or "grader" at first. This consists of a thin board 

 through which holes of the correct diameter have been made. Begin- 

 ning with the smallest, the diameter of the holes should be: 2^ 

 inches for the 5-tier pack, 2 J^ inches for the 4J^-tier pack, 2 J^ inches 

 for the 4-tier pack, 33^ inches for the 3J^-tier pack, and 3^ inches 

 for the 3-tier pack. The sizer should be placed in a convenient posi- 

 tion so that an apple can be quickly dropped through it if the man, 

 who is grading, is in doubt as to the size of any apple. The eye 

 of the attentive operator is soon trained, however, to distinguish the 

 different sizes. 



The packer adapts the pack to the size of the apple and the box. 

 Two kinds of packs are commonly used in the West, the diagonal 

 and the straight. They are the 3J^ and 4J^-tier, the 3}^-tier being 

 the more common. The apples for this pack are too large for four 

 straight across and too small for three straight across. They are 

 packed, therefore, as shown in the illustration, and the pack is 

 called a "3J^-tier." To start this, one apple is placed in the comer 

 and another against the end in the middle of the remaining width. 

 The next two apples, alternating with the first two, are set firmly 

 down into the intervening spaces, and so on until the layer is packed. 

 The mmiber of apples in the rows wiU vary according to the size 

 and shape. The mmiber in the different layers, however, should be 

 the same. The straight packs are the 3-, 4-, and 5-tier, according 

 to the size of the apples. This pack is made by placing the apples 

 in straight rows across the box. 



The diagonal pack is preferable to the straight. In the first 

 place, it permits of a wider variation in the size of the apples; with 

 the straight pack the apples must be more uniform in order to fit 

 exactly. In the second place, it permits of more or less pressing 

 without bruising. In the diagonal pack an apple rests in the center 

 of the space between two or four others. In the straight pack every 

 apple rests against the center of every other. Hence, when the top 

 is pulled down, a certain amount of pressing could take place in the 

 diagonal pack without bruising, whereas in the straight pack only 



