FRUIT-PACKING OPERATIONS 59 
the lace circle on top of this. It is well to use some 
kind of paper to keep the fruit from coming in direct 
contact with the wood, but the use of the fancy lace 
circle or more expensive cap is not customary except 
for the very finest grades. Sometimes customers request 
the use of these special packing materials, and in such 
cases they should always be used. 
Facing the Head.—This is an important operation 
and is accomplished with 
considerable care. The 
packer will learn how 
many apples will be re- 
quired of any given size 
to make one layer over 
the end of the barrel. He 
selects sufficient of these Fig. 46. 
from the grading table, A well-faced barél. 
being careful to get uni- 
form specimens both in size and color. They are 
put into a swing-handled basket and emptied into the 
bottom of the barrel. The packer then. reaches in 
and arranges these apples in a circle around the 
bottom, placing the stems down. If the stems are 
so long that the apple rides over them, they are cut off 
by a special stemming tool. This resembles a small plier 
and can be purchased from orchard supply houses. 
There is considerable diversity in methods of facing 
barrels throughout the various fruit-growing sections, 
but most of the growers prefer to face two rows, the 
second row resting on the interspaces between the first. 
This gives a better appearance when the barrel is opened 
for inspection. Of course, it is understood that the end 
