METHODS OF PACKING 107 



trouble in weighing, and leads to disputes with the 

 consignee or buyer. In well-made boxes the irregularity 

 is so small that it can usually be disregarded. 



Cherries and Plums are packed in ail of the methods 

 described, but they are especially adapted for small 

 boxes, and good bright fruits have an excellent appear- 

 ance when well arranged, with a neat finish of white 

 paper. The finest early Cherries imported from the 

 Continent come in tasteful boxes and they tempt buyers, 

 though the quality of the fruit as regards flavour 

 leaves much to be desired. In this, as in so many other 

 instances, earliness combined with good appearance is 

 certain to command a market. The best later dessert 

 varieties of both Cherries and Plums can well be made 

 up into punnets, especially in seasons of scarcity. 



Large crops are often sent to market in peck, half- 

 siene, or bushel baskets, and in the Plum district of 

 Worcestershire the pot basket previously mentioned is 

 extensively employed. For unripe Plums or any 

 common variety like the Pershore, such large baskets 

 are admirable, and some manufacturers of jam have all 

 their Plums consigned in this manner. But the grower 

 who wishes to make the best prices does not go to the 

 jam-makers while he can find another market for good 

 fruit in smaller quantities, though in the case of " gluts" 

 or over-stocked local markets, these large consumers are 

 very useful friends. 



Packing Grapes for sale is in many places a most 

 important operation : in the Channel Islands, in the 

 Worthing district of Sussex, and in several localities 

 around the Metropolis, the production of Grapes for 

 market is a huge business, and hundreds of tons of this 

 fruit are sent by road and rail during a large part of 

 the year to the leading centres. The competition is 

 extremely keen, and the prices obtainable are much 

 lower than they were twenty years ago ; consequently, 



