APPLES 331 
pox in the East is increasing Expert 
packers from the Northwest are be- 
ing employed by various organizations of 
the Hast to teach the growers the science 
and art ot apple packing, and information 
on the subject is being disseminated by 
the agricultural colleges. Prof. EH. W. 
Bailey goes so far as to say, “The trend 
of the times in all commodities is toward 
the smaller type of package, and the box 
package will doubtless sometime supplant 
the barrel” It is generally conceded in 
the East, however, that at the present 
only the best grades of apples will pay 
there in boxes, and by some it is believed 
that only then is the use of the boxes 
feasible under the direction of a co-opera- 
tive association, with its trained manager 
and crew of expert packers 
There are some who believe that the 
growers of the Northwest will, with the 
increasing output of the section, be forced 
to the use of the barrel for the cheaper va- 
rieties and grades. This, it is believed, 
will come about, first, because of a short- 
age of labor. It requires less time to pack 
apples in barrels than in boxes, using the 
Northwest methods. Second, because of 
a necessity of reducing the packing ex- 
pense, in order to market the fruit with 
a profit, with the decline in price which 
these persons expect, somewhat in pro- 
portion to the increase in volume of out- 
put. 
Problem of Labor 
As to the first point, that of the coming 
scarcity of labor, it is in reality one of 
the serious problems now before the fruit 
growers of the Northwest But little 
thought has been given to its solution, 
and no steps taken toward future relief. 
A few possible methods are here out- 
lined, although no one method will prob- 
ably be sufficient by itself. Transient 
labor at its best is inexpert and irrespon- 
sible, and at that is far from being plenti- 
ful. If it must be employed, however, it 
can be placed under foremen, provided the 
latter are available: and the supply can be 
increased by advertising and by conces- 
sions in transportation charges. An 
available resident population outside the 
fruit industry that would be sufficient 
to care for the crop during a short space 
of time means a load upon the community 
during the remainder of the year, unless 
other industries are established that will 
absorb it after the harvest season and 
that can afford to run short or shut down 
during the fruit rush, while at the same 
time under this system the fruit industry 
Will not receive the benefit of any great 
efficiency in its workers, which can come 
only from practice. However, this system 
is better than none—in fact, such a sys- 
tem is already practiced to some extent. 
It may pay to foster seriously these other 
accommodating industries. 
The most satisfactory solution is one 
that will enable a large part of the work 
to be done by responsible and expert help. 
It is encouraging that at least three meth- 
ods can be suggested to accomplish this 
end. One is a reduction in the size of 
large orchard holdings, thus placing a 
larger population in the industry itself. 
This is of course impossible without main- 
taining a certain amount of profit in the 
production. Another is the employment 
of all possible machinery to take the 
place of hand labor, and to set a pace for 
the workers. There is no work at which 
a man can waste more time than that of 
grading entirely by hand. If he has a siz- 
ing machine to feed at the same time that 
he is grading for quality, his eye and fin- 
gers may develop twice their usual speed. 
A third, and perhaps the most satisfactory 
method, will be to prolong the packing 
season. The Northwest apple growers are 
fortunate in at least three respects: the 
plantings of apples have been mostly of 
late-keepinge sorts; the successful cold 
storage of apples is an established fact; 
nature covers the apples in this section 
with an unusually heavy coating of wax, 
which makes it possible for them to be 
stored in many localities without refrig- 
eration. Elsewhere in this work is urged 
the necessity of picking at the proper 
time and of rushing the apples into some 
proper sort of storage, if their keeping 
qualities are not to be impaired. This 
method would seem, then, to lie in send- 
ing all help possible into the orchards in 
order to pick at the proper time; to store 
loose; and then to pack up as ordered, or 
at leisure. Briefly stated, store at home 
