42 MODERN FRUIT MARKETING 
Hence, ungainly or unsightly packages could not be 
used. 
All of these points must be considered and every pos- 
sible step made to improve the convenience. Fourth, 
packages must be durable. While they are made as 
light as possible, they should not be so frail that many 
of them reach their destination in a smashed or broken 
condition. This ruins the fruit and, of course, reduces 
the sale price of the product. Fifth, and last, the 
packages must be sanitary. This is of growing impor- 
tance at the present time and is justly so considered. 
As the amount of fruit consumed in large cities grows 
greater each year, more consideration must be given to 
have this reach the buyer in a sanitary condition. 
The ideal package then, is clean, and neither old nor 
soiled in any way, is not ornamented or decorated with 
colored cloth or paints that might poison the fruit, and 
every possible precaution is taken to get wholesome 
fruit to the consumer. Much can be said in regard to 
the handling of fruit and vegetables in the large cities. 
Hucksters, push-carts, fruit stands and delivery wagons 
are frequently not of the best sanitary type and the 
consumer needs to be warned or the condition alleviated 
by legislation. 
The Kinds of Packages.—The size and kinds of 
packages vary greatly in different sections of the country 
and so far little effort has been made toward standard- 
izing the sizes of packs in the different states and in 
many cases, different parts of the same state. Apples 
are usually shipped in barrels or boxes. Barrels are 
the oldest, have been used the longest, and are most used 
in the Eastern states, Barrels have been discarded in 
