UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION NO. 75 



l! 





Washington, D. C. May> ]m 



METHOD OF TESTING 



THE CAPACITY OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONTAINERS 



UNDER THE UNITED STATES STANDARD 



CONTAINER ACTS 



By 1 r H- 7 A ; SPILMA> "" * €)UOr Marke t*n0 Specialist, and T. C. J. Baker. Assistant 

 Marketing Specialist, Division of Fruits and Vegetables, Bureau of Agricul- 

 tural Economies 



CONTEXTS 



Page Page 



H!^P 1 d _^ d _ a PP ar J atU5 ,-----, I ! Quantity of excess seed used 10 



Special apparatus developed 3 



Standard measures used 5 



The testing medium 7 



Preparation of baskets for testing 7 



How to make a test 9 



Determining excess or deficiency of the larger 



baskets n 



Special apparatus for Climax baskets ~" 11 



General considerations 12 



The United States standard container act of 1928, which estab- 

 lishes standards for hampers, round stave baskets, and splint baskets, 

 completes the standardization of baskets begun by the standard con- 

 tainer act of 1916. Both laws place upon the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture the duty of making capacity tests of baskets to 

 determine whether they comply with the law. Since many of the 

 States either have laws on the subject or have conferred upon some 

 State department the authority to promulgate regulations establish- 

 ing standard containers, the method and apparatus used by the Fed- 

 eral department in making tests becomes of general interest. 



METHOD AND APPARATUS 



The bulk-for-bulk method is used, and this restatement of the 

 method is made in the hope that it may assist in bringing about 

 uniformity of practice on the part of State and Federal officials 

 who have such work to do. The equipment consists of a cabinet, 

 a hopper funnel, a set of standard measures, a glass graduate, a 

 scoop, a supply of clean rapeseed. all of which are shown in Figure 

 1. and a strickle or striking stick, a supply of gummed paper tape, 

 and a stout knife. 



The hopper funnel, which is equipped with a slide or gate at the 

 bottom, ls supported by brackets attached to a rack that moves up 

 and down in a frame to which is affixed a graduated scale. The scale 



1027V9 — 30 



