378 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



room for packing material at the ends and 

 sides to keep the punnets steady. Over the 

 fruits a number of leaves are placed, the upper 

 surface downwards, then a sheet of paper, and 

 the lid (which is either hinged or loosed) is 

 then secured by cord. These trays can also be 

 placed in crates constructed with shelves or 

 slides to hold about a dozen in two tiers. 



The main-crop and cheaper fruits are best 

 packed in small boxes or baskets that will hold 

 about 3 or 4 lbs. The smallest-size boxes sup- 

 plied by the railway companies are very useful 

 for this purpose, and nothing is needed beyond 

 a lining of good paper, provided the firm- 

 fruited varieties of Strawberries are employed, 

 and these only are fitted for the purpose. Care- 

 fully selected and packed, such boxes can be 

 sent hundreds of miles. The size of the box 

 in question is 7^ inches by lOf inches by 

 3 inches deep, and it holds 3 lbs. of good fruit. 



Fruit for preserving is generally placed in 

 baskets holding about 12 lbs., and those with 

 necks curved in at the rim are the best for this 

 purpose. 



Raspberries for packing should be gathered 

 with the stalks, and may be packed in deep 

 punnets or in a similar way to Strawberries if 

 for dessert. For preserving, baskets are the 

 best, but large bulks should never be placed 

 together. Baskets holding about 6 lbs. are the 

 most suitable. 



The finest ripe Gooseberries are sometimes 

 packed in deep punnets, like Raspberries, but 

 more usually they are placed in small baskets 

 or boxes, and sorted in the house or shop for 

 immediate use or sale. Gooseberries should be 

 carefully selected, and never packed imme- 

 diately after rain, the fruits are so liable to 

 split and spoil the others. 



Stone-fruits. — It has already been indicated 

 that the best Dessert Plums are preferably 

 treated in a similar way to Peaches, and they 

 pay for the most careful packing. For all 

 large Plums the small -box system, with at 

 most two layers of fruits, can be followed with 

 satisfaction. Varieties of the Monarch type 

 require a box at least 4 inches deep to allow 

 sufficient space for packing material, and about 

 6 lbs. of fruits can then be provided for in each 

 box. The bulk of Plums for ordinary use can 

 be packed in boxes holding 12 lbs. to 14 lbs. of 

 fruits, but these should be despatched before 

 they are ripe, and even then they need the 

 most careful handling. It should be seen, too, 

 that all spaces are well filled, so that, when the 

 lids are on, they cannot shake loose. Where 



still larger supplies are dealt with, half-sieves, 

 i.e. stout baskets that will contain about 26 lbs. 

 to 28 lbs of Plums, are most generally used. 

 In either of the latter cases the upper layer of 

 fruit must be covered with paper, upon which 

 the packing material should be placed, and over 

 this two stout willows or other flexible sticks 

 should be crossed in the centre, with the 

 pointed ends through the sides of the basket 

 below the rim. This is the regular market 

 style, but for home use flat hampers with lids 

 are preferable in every way. 



Damsons can be packed in the same way as 

 Plums, but, except for convenience in sending 

 small quantities, boxes are seldom required, flat 

 baskets being more serviceable. 



The finest Dessert Cherries should always be 

 packed in small boxes or baskets, or for special 

 purposes they can be made up in punnets like 

 Strawberries. The general crop for eating or 

 culinary purposes can be treated like Plums 

 and forwarded in boxes, half -sieves, or flats as 

 desired, the same precautions and care being 

 necessary in each case. 



Apples. — With no fruit is the skill of the 

 grader and packer combined more in request 

 than with Apples, and though a distinction 

 may be made in this respect between dessert 

 and culinary varieties, yet both are affected in 

 an important degree as regards market value. 

 It is so usual in this country to consign all 

 Apples for sale in open baskets (bushels and 

 half-bushels) that it is difficult to induce some 

 growers to try other methods. Yet the best 

 samples are worth more careful treatment, and 

 where a thorough system of grading is adopted, 

 it is found profitable to pack the finest selected 

 samples in a different manner. The advantage 

 of doing this is becoming recognized, and boxes 

 holding a dozen of the best British - grown 

 Dessert Apples have been seen in some of the 

 leading London fruiterers' shops priced at 2s. 6d. 

 and 3s. Referring to this method the editor of 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle says: "Growers are very 

 apt to complain of the low prices they obtain 

 for their produce, but this is not infrequently 

 the result of their own carelessness. When 

 fruits are handled like so much gravel and coals, 

 as they often are, it is no wonder they become 

 bruised and unsaleable except at ruinous prices. 

 But if the fruit be carefully gathered, sorted, 

 and packed, the prices obtained will be higher. 

 We have an illustration of this in the shape of 

 a box of Apples from the Duke of Bedford's 

 fruit farm at Ridgmont. It is a small wooden 

 box containing twelve carefully-selected Apples, 



