QUALITY OF THE PACKAGE 165 



quality inferior, but it is the only way in which some products 

 can be shipped. If the fruits are green, they are hard and 

 firm and will stand transit. During shipment or shortly 

 afterward, the produce will ripen, and will be ready for sale 

 upon arriving at their destination, provided they have been 

 properly selected at the time of harvesting. The tomato, 

 melon and peach are some crops that are always picked 

 green if they are to be shipped to a distant market. 



Packing for Local and for Distant Market. — The packing of 

 produce for a local trade differs from the packing for a long- 

 distance shipment. The products for home trade can often- 

 times be marketed in a great variety of vessels. Grading is 

 perhaps more important for the local trade than is the kind 

 of a package and too often the proper grading of an article is 

 overlooked for home consumption. Usually the home trade 

 consumes the produce at once and no means of shipment is 

 necessary. The produce can be delivered to the consumer in 

 any vessel that is convenient as, for example, market baskets, 

 bushel baskets, barrels and boxes. 



When long-distance shipments are made the kind of a pack- 

 age becomes a very important problem. The grower must 

 realize that he is dealing with men in a different section, and 

 that his produce must arrive at its destination in good condi- 

 tion. The packages must be uniform and not of varying sizes 

 and shapes or there would be no means of ascertaining the 

 value of his shipment. Each package must contain a definite 

 quantity. The quality of the package must be uniform. In 

 some cases each fruit must be wrapped separately as, for 

 example, the tomato and the melon. Some crops like the 

 celery must be tied up in bunches of a definite size. Lettuce 

 is often packed in chopped ice, so that it will not wilt but will 

 arrive at its destination in good condition. Strawberries 

 are packed in special boxes which resemble large ice-boxes. 

 A number of crates are placed in one of these large boxes and 

 ice is packed in several compartments so that the berries 

 will be cold and remain firm. 



Quality of the Package. — Inferior or mixed packages should 

 never be made. A thing worth doing is worth doing well and 

 attempted deception in a package is bound to react upon the 



