APPLES 369 
the interstice is going to fit down closer 
into it, and that there will be no less 
weight to the box Some of them turther 
state that the loosely packed box will be 
handled with the tewer bruises Still the 
fact remains, so the others would affirm, 
that the tight pack makes a better impres- 
sion upon the trade 
Neatness 
‘So precise have many farmers and 
dealers become in their estimation of the 
nature and value of consumers’ fancies, 
that they analyze them and translate them 
into sense impressions, and give nu- 
merical weight to these impressions more 
accurately than they could guess the 
weight of a hog or the number of bushels 
in a cornerib. 
“The growing, the preparing, and the 
marketing of many of the products of the 
farm are becoming questions of art and 
psychology. Less do people eat to live 
than they live to eat, and yet when they 
buy food, they buy it often not primarily 
tor the gratification of taste, but upon the 
testimony of the eye, which is pleased 
with form and color, and upon the per- 
ception of odor, while, if the consumer 
were reared in the country, perhaps his 
choice is determined by the farm-bred 
fancies of a happy youth. 
“What set of nerves shall have the 
preference in determining the purchase 
of a farm product, the optic or the 
gustatory? Shall a thing be pretty, or 
delicious; and, since the sense of smell 
must also be consulted in some cases, is 
it of much consequence whether it is 
pretty or delicious? The seller has much 
more definite information with regard 
to these questions than the consumer; 
although it is the consumer who makes 
the choice, he is induced to do so by the 
seller’s subtle knowledge of his fancies, 
which need not be and often are not 
either sensible or reasonable, but, on the 
other hand, often verge upon the notional, 
and seem superfluous to an unsophisticat- 
ed farmer.’’* 
* “Consumers’ Fancies.” Geo KE 
Yearbook of Department of 
t, 
Holmes, 
Agriculture, 
With the above statements as a founda- 
tion, 1f the grower or packer will but stop 
to 1eflect upon his own observations and 
expelience, further argument is unneces- 
sary to establish in his mind the de- 
Sirability of a neat apple package Mr. 
Carl W. Kimball, president of the Na- 
tional League of Commission Merchants, 
states that he regards neatness, together 
with firmness, as the most important re- 
quirements of a good pack The points 
to be looked to are a clean, bright box, 
careful nailing, orderly stamping, a tasty 
label, smooth wrap, with no 1ough edges 
of the paper showing, and a true align- 
ment. A good alignment depends on the 
equal spacing of the apples touching the 
lower head of the box in any layer, on 
keeping the stem end of the apples point- 
ing straight toward the end of the box, 
and on uniformity ot size 
PACKING HOUSE MANAGEMENT 
For the apple product of a section to 
gain favor in the markets of the country 
and then retain it, first a standard of 
grade and pack for the product must be 
established, and second this standard 
must be uniformly maintained It has 
been comparatively easy for the apple dis- 
tricts of the Northwest to formulate rules 
covering the various grades, but difficult 
for them to maintain any standard uni- 
formly. This has been due partly to the 
increase in the number of persons en- 
gaged in the industry beyond the power 
of the older growers to instruct the new- 
comers as to definitions and methods. 
There has also been the danger that the 
faulty output of the indifferent and dis- 
honest would act to annul the efforts of 
the painstaking and conscientious and 
give the whole producing district a bad 
name. This condition, in fact, did evolve 
in some instances. In one case a certain 
house, which any man would be proud to 
say handles his product, was driven per- 
manently from a certain district by the 
extreme carelessness or flagrant dis- 
honesty of a single grower in putting 
up the pack of one season. A member 
of the firm stated that they could not af.- 
ford to do business in a community 
which tolerated such practices. 
