332 
loose, rather than at the yoarket packed. 
A certain number of men who will thus 
be employed during the fall and winter 
can be used in the orchards in early 
spring for pruning and during the re- 
mainder of the year for spraying, irrigat- 
ing, and the other orchard labors. 
Problems of Expense 
As to the point of expense, many deny 
that an increased production necessarily 
means an overproduction and resultant 
decrease in price. Others believe that 
even if the price of apples is to be lower, 
it would not be a menace to the industry, 
but rather a benefit by increasing demand, 
provided that means of reducing propor- 
tionately the cost of growing and mar- 
keting are employed. They further be- 
lieve that the reduction in the ,cost of 
marketing is not to come through the 
replacing of perfect, though comparatively 
costly methods of packing by. imperfect, 
though cheap methods, but rather through 
the employment of co-operative packing 
and co-operative and direct buying and 
selling; and that the reduction in the 
cost of production is to come through the 
dissemination of knowledge and the em- 
ployment of more efficient methods in or- 
chard management. As to the disposal 
of the low grade of apples, if it is not 
profitable or for other reasons is not ad- 
visable under the present methods em- 
ployed, it does not necessarily follow that 
the barrel is to be used. The expense of 
putting out a box with a jumble pack 
would be not far from the expense of 
putting out a like amount in the barrel, 
and by many the box for this purpose 
would be preferred. Many would dispose 
of any apples that are not profitable when 
packed according to the Northwest meth- 
od, by turning them into by-products 
before placing them before the public, 
thus avoiding any lowering of the stand- 
ard by which the Northwest apple has 
become known. Others would find a lim- 
ited market for such grade in certain 
sections of the West, where the apples 
could be sent in bulk loose in the car. 
This practice would save at least $90 on 
the expense of each car put out. 
In some instances Western box apples 
that have not met a ready sale in the 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
Hast, have been transferred into barrels 
and disposed of at a profit. This is not 
an argument in favor of the barrel, how- 
ever, as in such cases, if the grade anq 
pack have been up to standard, it wil] 
usually be found that the consumer has 
not been accustomed to the box; fre 
quently because he has looked upon it as 
an article beyond the reach of his purse. 
The remedy for this is a campaign of edu- 
cation of the retailer and consumer, and 
a reduction of the cost to him through 
the use of the means indicated above. 
One fact is certain: wherever Western box 
apples have been introduced, the result, 
so long as the standard of grade and pack 
have been maintained, has been an in- 
creasing demand. 
BARREL PACKING 
Grades 
The United States standard grades for 
barrel apples as established by the en- 
actment of the “Sulzer” bill in 1912, gov- 
erning the shipment of apples in inter. 
state commerce and the sale of apples in 
the District of Columbia or the territories, 
is as follows: “Apples of one variety, 
which are well grown specimens, hand 
picked, of good color for the variety, 
normal shape, practically free from insect 
and fungus injury, bruises, and other de- 
fects, except such as are necessarily 
caused in the operation of packing, or 
apples of one variety which are not more 
than ten per centum below the foregoing 
specifications shall be ‘Standard grade 
minimum size two and one-half inches,’ if 
the minimum size of the apples is two 
and one-half inches in transverse diam- 
eter; ‘Standard grade minimum size two 
and one-fourth inches,’ if the minimum 
size of the apples is two and one-fourth 
inches in transverse diameter; or ‘Stand- 
ard grade minimum size two inches,’ if 
the minimum size of the apples is two 
inches in transverse diameter.” Provi- 
sion is also made that if “the barrel bears 
any statement, design, or device indicat- 
ing that the apples contained therein are 
‘Standard’ grade and the barrel fails to 
bear also a statement of the name of the 
variety, the name of the locality where 
grown, and the name of the packer or 
