169 



mended by the Federation of British 

 (irowers. The measurements of this are 

 18ins. by ll^ins. by lOJins. inside. Speci- 



fication : Two ends, lUins. by lOiins. by 



fin. ; two sides, IQJins. by lOiins. by 



5/16in. ; two tops and bottoms, IQJins. by 



llins. by 3/16in. ; four cleats, llins. by 

 #in. by iin. 



Lessons from Abroad. 



Americans and Colonials have made h 

 great success of apple culture. They have 

 studied it from beginning to end, and not 

 a little of their prosperity is due to the 

 careful attention paid to grading and 



a(n,sure uniformity of appearance, neat> 

 ness and protection from bruising. The 

 purpose of careful packing is to make the 

 box of fruit as attractive as possible to 

 the purchaser, and obtain thereby for it 

 the highest possible place." A definition 

 somewhat lengthy and verbose, yet easily 

 understood. Then let it be adopted by 

 English apple-growers. 



Great care should be taken in the 

 gathering to avoid bruising or in any 

 way damaging the fruit. Many pre- 

 cautions can be taken to avoid injury, 

 and pickers should be taught that 

 although the apple is a hardy fruit it is 

 not of the nature of pig-iron. Competent 

 labour is always worth securing. . 



The two principal methods of packing 

 apples in boxes are (1) the diagonal pack, 

 (2) the square pack, of which the illustra- 

 tions convey a comprehensive explana- 

 tion. In an able article which appeared 

 in " Better Fruit " some years ago, Mr. 

 C. C. Vincent, of Idaho University, 



Box Containing 48 Apples. Box Containing 45 Apples. Box Containing 41 Apples. 



packing. That being so, it behoves us in 

 this country to learn the habits and 

 methods of those who have succeeded in 

 our markets. A well-known American 

 apple expert once described packing as 

 " the classification of fruit in the proper 

 sizes by placing fruit of the same size 

 Bolidly into boxes in such a manner as to 



U.S.A., wrote the following commentary 

 on the subject of these two kinds of pack- 

 ing, which is as applicable to-day as when 

 written. He said : — 



" At the present time there are two 

 styles of packs, known to the trade as the 

 straight and diagonal. The straight pack 

 is so called because the rows run straight 



