212 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



October, 1913 



Careful Packing. 



It is to some extent characteris- 

 tic of Australians to depend a lit- 

 tle upon the happenings of chance. 

 But, where fruit that is to be sub- 

 jected to a lon^ journey and prob- 

 ably receive a deal of rough hand- 

 ling is concerned, it jvays rather 

 to take extra trouble and pack it 

 firmly, than to err on the side of 

 carelessness and trust to good for- 

 tune for its safe delivery. 



— Handling and (irading. — 



Considering iha susce]itibilitv of 

 such fruit as ajjples and pears to 

 bruise when carelessly handled, a 

 little more than ordinary <;are 

 should be bestowed upon fruit, that 

 is being gathered and packed for 

 the home market, than is given to 

 fruit that is • to be sold within a 

 few davs. An advantage gained 

 bv harvesting the fruit a few days 

 prioT to packing is that in the 

 course of the latter operation all 

 blemished specimens may be no- 



NEW . . 

 ZEALAND 



Insurance . . 

 . , Company, 



LIMITED, 

 TO STOCK OWNEES. 



Thii w«ll-known COLONIAL OFFICE 

 IB now issuing. 

 LIVE STOCK POLICIES, 

 with moit lemiemt condition*, ipeoial- 

 ly prepared to m«et local reqTiir«ne»ti 

 covering 



DEATH FROM FIR», NATURAL 



CAUSES, AND ACCIDENT. 



Foaling Riski a Specialty. 



FOR RATES AND PARTICULARS 



APPLY TO THE LOCAL AGENT. 

 (N.B.— The well-known ' Maori Head ' 

 Agency plate is to be aeen in all the 

 chief oentree), or THE MANAGER. 

 112 KING WILLIAM ST.. ADELAIDE. 

 Claim, paid axceed £7.500.000. 



DepartnumtB — FIRE, MARINE, 

 ACCIDENT, EMPLOYERS' INDEM 

 NITY, PLATEGIoABS. FIIIEUTY 

 GUARANTEE. ADMINISTRATION 

 B0ND8. ftUBOLAJRY, UVE STOCK 



ticed and rejected. The less the 

 fruit is handled the better, and for 

 this reason the large sweat box is 

 to be preferred for holding the 

 fruit to the ord.nary l)\ishel case, 

 as, during packing, the various 

 sized fruit may be more ea.sily se- 

 lected without submitting them to 

 frequent turnings over in the boxes, 

 (lood grading is largely a matter 

 of practice, for in a very short 

 space of time the eye becomes 

 accustomed to discriminating be- 

 tween the various sizes. It is also 

 a matter of importance, for not 

 only does it facilitate packing, but 

 it enables the contents 'cf the case 

 to be mere firmly .secured in po- 

 sition than is ]Dossibie when fruits 

 of different size are placed in the 

 one case. For export purposes the 

 grades should vary from fruit 2% 

 inches in diameter to that of 3 

 inches in diameter, a quarter of an 

 inch separating the different sizes. 

 Of course it is not possible to be 

 absolutelv accurate in this opera- 

 tion but an endeavour should be 

 m.ade to keep as near to the mark 

 as is possible. A'n experienced man 

 will perform the grading intuitive- 

 Iv and without the assistance of 

 grading rings, but those unaccus- 

 tomed to the work will find that 

 bv adopting the ring method for a 

 few hours they will attain a facili- 

 ty of .selection that will enable 

 them to discontinue its further u.se. 



— Selection of the Fruit. — 



It is usual to attach more im- 

 portance to the manner in which 

 fruit for the oversea trade is grad- 

 ed and packed than to any other 

 consideration. .Judgment in the 

 .selection of fruit is of paramount 

 importance. There is no doubt 

 whatever that m.any of the losses 

 sustained each season are directly 

 attributable to the lack of dis- 

 cernment .shown by some growers 

 in the selection of the fruit. Unless 

 the produce is well and propC.-ly 

 matured it is not fit for export. 

 There are many young orchards 

 just coming into" bearing, the trees 

 in which havie not sulficiently ma- 

 tured to 'render their i)rcKluce fit 

 to bear such changes as occur in 

 the refrigerating chambers. While 

 the outward appearance of the '..Tuit 

 mav be all that is to be desired, 

 it lacks substance and tissue. As 

 a rule the crops on young trees 

 are light, and oven should they, be 

 above normal, the fact of the trees 

 being young and vigorous has a 

 tendency towards forced develop- 

 ment that makes the fruit unsuit- 

 able for exi)ort. Those orchard- 

 ists who have plantations of young 



CURLEW BRANDY. 



For years the Only BranUy uatxJ 

 in ih« Adelaide HoapitAl. 



Sole AgwntB — 



DOWNER A 00. 



Wine and Spirit Merohante and 

 Aerated Water ManufacturerB. 



43 WAITWOUTH ST.. CITY. 



trees will be well advised to mar- 

 ket their croi)s locally, and not 

 (Utilise them cither for export or 

 storage purpo.ses. There is also 

 another matter to which attention 

 .should be given. Pick all fruit in- 

 tended for the export trade se. 

 veral davs prior to packing it for 

 consignment to the wharf. If after 

 picking the fruit is removed in 

 cases or sweat boxes to the pack- 

 ing room and allowed to remain 

 untouched for three or four days 

 its condition will be much im- 

 proved, and there will be much 

 less sweating after the cases are ■ 

 eventually placed under the 

 hatches .—Exchange . 



