368 
either end apple of a row into the box, it 
can be put in, not in a perpendicular pos- 
ition at first, but tilted slightly toward 
the middle of the box, pressing it then 
into place by turning it up perpendicular- 
ly to the bottom of the box. This tends 
to press the apples in the layer under- 
neath toward the middle of the box, 
heightening the crown, and allows the 
end apple that is being placed to sink 
lower into its pocket, lowering the end 
of the pack. Care will have to be taken 
in performing this operation not to press 
so hard as to bruise the apples. One 
frequently hears it stated that the ends 
are to be kept. low by the use of smaller 
apples at the ends. This will bring the 
desired result; but it is unnecessary 
and undesirable, because breaking the 
uniformity of size. 
Uniformity of Size 
Under our present system the packer 
usually has some sorting for size to do 
after the apples have left the graders and 
come into his hands. Here he needs a 
quick and exact eye. Regardless of his 
natural ability, he also usually finds 
that only practice enables him to do satis- 
factory work rapidly. 
It is not usually supposed that separ- 
ate packs are to be made for all the pos- 
sible sizes, or counts, of a variety. As a 
general rule, the smaller the apple, the 
greater the difference allowable in the 
number of apples to the box. 
Inability or carelessness in grading for 
size sometimes causes packers to commit 
what is jocosely called “the unpardon- 
able sin in apple packing,’ or as it is 
more technically expressed, “to break the 
pack.” By this is meant that the packer 
constructs a layer containing too many or 
too few apples, thus confusing the count. 
For example: suppose he has packed four 
layers of his box a three-two pack five- 
five long, and for the top layer selects 
smaller apples, making the rows six-five 
long. The bottom four layers are four- 
tier apples, 125 to the box. The top lay- 
er contains four and one-half-tier apples, 
138 to the box. In this case the value of 
the apples in the top layer may be from 
10 to 50 cents less per box than the ap- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
ples in the other layers. But the num- 
ber stamped on the box’ will -be deter- 
mined by the number in the top layer. 
The box will be stamped 138, classed and 
sold as a box of four and one-half-tier ap- 
ples, and the grower will not receive due 
payment for four-fifths of the box. To 
guard against breaking his pack, the pack- 
er must be sure that the center of every 
apple above the first layer fits exactly 
over the interstice between the apples di- 
rectly underneath. 
Fig. 38. 
Example of Broken Pack. 
ples are not kept directly over the spaces 
The ap- 
beneath. This confuses the count. Usually 
due to lack of uniformity in size. (New 
Bue; (Cornell) Experiment Station Bulletin 
Firmness 
The instructions to packers of the 
Hood River Apple Growers’ Union, Ore- 
gon, for the year 1912, state: “A swell 
on the box does not. mean necessarily a 
tight pack; the apples must be tight from 
side to side and from end to end. The 
Union wants a tight pack, but not so com- 
pact as to bruise the apples.” The cus- 
tom of a judge at a box apple competition, 
in passing upon the point of firmness, is 
to try to wiggle with his hand the ap- 
ples in each layer of the box as he goes 
through it. He does not want to find 
one apple in the box that his hand can 
disturb. The ideal for firmness is that 
the box without the cover can be set on 
end and the apples not fall out. An in- 
creasing number of persons do not agree 
with this view on the point of firmness, 
however, believing that a pack may be 
loose and still be full, which they further 
believe is all that is necessary. Their 
argument is that if there is a large inter- 
stice between the apples in any layer, it 
only means that the apple directly above 
