HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 



33 



heavy impacts received during car loading, transit, and market distribu- 

 tion. The tray pack is growing in favor with buyers for self-service 

 markets where heavy bruising constitutes a difficult display and mer- 

 chandising problem. 



Fiberboard boxes, though not in common use for packing apples, are 

 being increasingly used for specialized packs. They may be used with 

 the tray-packs described above, as shipping containers for various types 

 of consumer packages, or with egg-crate-type cells for individual apples 

 (fig. 18). The latter afford maximum protection against bruising. 

 Because of the diversity of sizes of the egg-cell inserts required for dif- 

 ferent sizes of apples, boxes of various shapes and dimensions are re- 

 quired. This makes it difficult to stack them in cars, trucks, or storages 

 economically. Corrugated fiberboard is a good insulating material ; con- 

 sequently allowance for ventilation should be made in their design. 

 They hold the fruit less rigidly in place than wooden containers, and 

 if they are not moistureproofed they tend to soften at the high humidi- 

 ties desirable for apple storage. However, shipments of apples in fiber- 

 board boxes have been made from the Northwest to eastern markets 

 in which the fruit arrived in as good condition as that in the standard 

 boxes. 



w$ 





Figure 18. — Egg-crate type of fiberboard containers, which afford maximum protec- 

 tion against bruising. A disadvantage of this type is the diversity of shapes required 

 for apples of different sizes. 



Prepackaging for the Consumer 



A wide variety of packages, varying in size from % bushel down to 

 a 2-pound carton, have been used in an effort to find a container that 



