69 



Packing Methods. 



With strawberries, the points the grower 

 has to be constantly on the lookout foi- 

 are that only ripe fruit is picked, that it is 

 picked with a short strig, and that the 

 fruit is not crushed; it is either picked 

 into handle baskets of about a gallon, 

 .and then transferred to pecks, or direct 

 into the peck; the greater part of the 

 Kentish strawberries travel in pecks, 

 which should hold 121bs. of fruit. The 

 English-made pecks are generally uniform 

 in size, but those from Holland, although 

 cheap, are of all sizes, holding between 

 lOlbs. and 161bs., and are, therefore, 

 very unsatisfactory to everybody. Some 

 strawberries are sent from Kent in 4 or 

 6 lb. packages, but the /Kentish railway 

 vans are probably the worst in the king- 

 • dom for fruit, as they arc badly ventilated, 

 have no shelves, and should have their 

 roofs painted white to keep them cool. 

 The Southampton district picks its straw- 

 berries into handle baskets of about 41bs., 

 and the railway company serving this dis- 

 trict provides trucks fitted with suitable 

 shelves; these handle baskets have paper 

 over the fruit, but strawberries in pecks 

 are found to travel best v/ithout any 

 paper. Cornish strawberries, being early 

 and at a long distance from market, are 

 sent in punnets, For jam, strawberries 

 a,re picked leaving strig on plant 

 ("plugged"), and placed in tubs con- 

 taining 14 to 40lbs. 



Raspberries are nearly all picked with- 

 out strig, and placed in 41b. gallon baskets. 

 Those previously used for the Southamp- 

 ton strawberries answer well. The bulk is 

 put in tubs ready for the jam factories. 

 The price is usually better for basket 

 fruit, and if not wanted for dessert can 

 be shot into tubs in market. For small 

 quantities of raspberries for jam making, 

 empty lard buckets could, previous to the 

 war, be bought from the grocer for 4d. 

 each and make good packages. The very 

 finest raspberries with strig, also the finest 

 red and white currants, sometimes sell well 

 in punnets or other small packages. 



Children, if careful, make excellent rasp- 

 berry pickers. Their fingers are light and 

 do not crush the fruit, and their eyes 

 bright to sec the fruit on the lower 

 branchlets. 



Green gooseberries travel well in half- 



bushels of 281bs., or from some districts 

 they are despatched in sacks. Ripe goose- 

 berries being tender, travel better in 

 pecks. 



Red and black currants are chiefly sent 

 away in half-bushels, with a sheet of blue 

 or pink paper over the top retained by 

 cross splints; all leaves should be picked 

 out; the finer red and black currants, 

 especially if ripe, travel better in pecks. 



Cherries must have their strigs. They 

 need careful picking and packing to ex- 

 clude any split or mouldy cherries; the 

 half-bushel covered with paper is the 

 usual package, with two " splints " of 

 nut wood to keep the fruit in. In pick- 

 ing Morello cherries the strigs are apt to 

 pull out the buds that should bear fruit 

 next year, so with this variety on bush 

 trees it is advisable to cut the strigs with 

 scissors. These cherries sell well in gallon 

 or peck baskets. 



The chief package for Kent plums is the 

 half-bushel, or, for choice ripe ones, the 

 peck. A few of the best dessert plums often 

 pay for packing in chip baskets with 

 handles. In packing half-bushels or pecks 

 no litter should be used, nor should the 

 baskets be lined with paper, which hinders 

 ventilation. The plums are simply filled 

 in to the correct weight, and a piece of 

 tissue paper tucked in over the top and 

 held in place by two crossed binders. 



The greater part of the Kentish apples 

 are despatched in bushel and half-bushel 

 baskets, for cooking and dessert varieties 

 respectively. The fruit can be picked direct 

 into bushel or half-bushel baskets. In 

 order to avoid bruising it is a good plan to 

 place some wood-wool at the bottom of the 

 basket and a strip of corrugated brown 

 paper round the inside. Picking baskets 

 are made, lined with felt. For gathering 

 apples by ladder a picking basket with 

 handle is generally used, as it can be 

 hooked to a rung of the ladder. Some 

 gatherers use a sack slung under the left 

 arm, having a slit in the sack where the 

 fruit is put in. A modification of this used 

 considerably in Australia and copyrighted 

 on the Glewston Fruit Farm, is a sack 

 which has a flap at the bottom which one 

 can detach in order to let the fruit run out. 

 Some gvowei's use barrels for conveying 

 cooking apples. 



When the apples have been gathered 



