PACKING FKUITS FOE ROAD OE KAIL. 



379 



resting on a bed of wood wool, which is covered 

 with a sheet of tissue-paper. Each Apple is 

 wrapped round by a broad band consisting of 

 several folds of tissue-paper. By this means 

 the fruit is not bruised in transit, and the 



Fig. 1142.— Apples in flat basket with lid. Packed with fine wood wool 



Apples have a most appetizing appearance. As 

 each box is conspicuously marked with the name 

 of the fruit farm, the purchaser has a guarantee 

 of the quality of the fruit. All that we can 

 suggest further is that the name of the Apple — 

 in this case Cox's Orange 

 Pippin — should be placed on 

 the box. Small boxes like this 

 would be eagerly bought by 

 householders, once it were 

 known where they could be 

 obtained, and even the green- 

 grocers would in time realize 

 the fact that selected fruit 

 carefully handled would be 

 more profitable than the mis- 

 cellaneous stuff they sell under 

 the name of fruit." Small 

 boxes like these weigh about 

 5 lbs., the packing costs a 

 mere trifle, and the price ob- 

 tainable is often 50 per cent 

 in excess of the same grade of 

 fruit placed in larger boxes 

 or baskets. Every fruit must be selected by 

 hand, and be as free from defects as it is pos- 

 sible to determine by eye-examination. 



If the best Dessert Apples are packed in larger 

 quantities, boxes or flat baskets that will hold 

 12 lbs. or 22 lbs. to 24 lbs. should be used. 

 The layers and the lines of fruits should be 

 separated by bands of white tissue-paper or the 

 finest wood wool, but sufficient of the fruit 



should be left uncovered to show its character 

 and quality. 



Culinary Apples can well be classed in three 

 grades for sale. The half -sieves or bushel 

 baskets employed for market are only suitable 

 for the inferior grades, the best are 

 always worth boxes or flat baskets. 

 These should hold about half a 

 bushel, and the fruit should be 

 packed by hand, with paper and 

 wood wool, as the finest examples 

 well packed will always bring .suffi- 

 ciently advanced prices to more 

 than pay for the extra cost and 

 trouble. 



Growers with a large business 

 would do well to give more atten- 

 tion to keeping up a uniform stan- 

 dard of grading in Apples, and to 

 mark their packages in a regular 

 manner. In Canada a law has been 

 passed upon this subject, which 

 renders it compulsory to clearly 

 indicate the quality of the Apples being shipped, 

 and conviction of erroneous labelling is pun- 

 ishable. 



Pears. — All the best and largest Pears should 

 be packed in shallow boxes or hampers, two or 



Fig: 1143.— Pears in shallow box. Packed with paper and wood wool. 



three layers being sufficient, and the former is 

 the better plan. If Pears are carefully selected 

 of uniform size, they lend themselves to neat 

 and tasteful packing even better than Apples. 

 By placing the fruits diagonally, and reversing 

 the position of every line, they may be made to 

 fit with almost geometrical exactness. A plenti- 

 ful use of the finest wood wool and paper will 

 suffice to ensure the safety of Pears in boxes 



