1608 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



larger than the packing boxes, have 

 strips nailed across the top to prevent 

 the bruising of the fruit when the boxes 

 are stacked level full, and have hand- 

 holds cut or sawed in each end in order 

 to make the lifting of the boxes easy. 



Strong ladders are an important part 

 of a picking equipment because a shaky 

 ladder causes the picker to be afraid of 

 falling, makes it harder for him to pick 

 and often causes the bruising of the fruit. 

 A low-wheeled one-horse wagon with a 

 broad platform extending out over the 

 wheels so as to hold a large number of 

 boxes placed one tier on the platform is 

 a good equipment for hauling in the 

 fruit. 



Fii 



'Harvey" Roister SDring: Suitable for 

 Use on Orchard Waj?ons. 



After the fruit is hauled to the packing 

 sheds or house it is assorted by some one 

 who attends particularly to that work 

 and placed on the packing tables. In as- 

 sorting there are certain rules in almost 

 pvery commercial orchard which will 

 govern the conduct of the work. These 

 rules are determined by the object of the 

 grower or the purposes for which his 

 pears are intended. If they are intended 



for canning, one set of rules would ob- 

 tain, while if they were intended for 

 wrapping, boxing and sending to the city 

 markets, another set of rules would be 

 given. 



In the Eastern states, for canning pur- 

 poses pears are almost always shipped in 

 baskets, while in the West, especially the 

 Pacific Coast states, they are wrapped in 

 paper and shipped in boxes. 



Packiii§^ Pears 



Where pears are packed in boxes for 

 the fancy markets it is important that 

 the same care should be used as in the 

 packing of apples. Some of the commis- 

 sion merchants and fruit associations 

 send out rules for packing similar to the 

 following: 



1. All packers must be registered. 

 Each packer must have a rubber stamp 

 with a number, and this number must 

 be placed on every box packed by the 

 one holding this number. 



2. There must be a competent fore- 

 man over all packing crews, and each 

 packer must look to him for instructions. 



3. If any packer whose work is found 

 unsatisfactory will not do the work as 

 directed by the foreman, he shall be dis- 

 charged. 



4. All pears shall be packed in two 

 grades, "Fancy" and "Choice." Some 

 growers and associations have three 

 grades, the same as in apples, "Extra 

 Fancy," "Fancy" and "Choice." 



Easter. 



Kleffer. 



Howell. 



