44 PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



The committee would recommend for general use the nailed box in preference to the 

 dovetailed box, the nailed box being less expensive, and when properly nailed makes a 

 stronger package and can be shipped from the box factory to the packing-house in 

 shook, which is the most convenient and economical form of shipping box material. 



The 80-pound box now in use by some packers should be discarded from the list of 

 standard packages. Complaints from receivers of California cured fruits in foreign 

 countries regarding broken packages and loss of fruit, generally arise from insufficient 

 nailing and careless packing in boxes made of light material. 



If the sides of the box are of sufficient thickness to permit the nailing of the top and 

 bottom to the sides along the edges and the box packed solid with fruit, you will have 

 a package sufficiently strong to withstand the average hardships of transportation, and 

 one that will overcome the complaint of foreign receivers regarding broken packages. 

 The manner of pressing the fruit into the box is largely responsible for broken packages, 

 particularly the 50-pound package. 



Packers of cured fruits, prunes, etc., for shipment to foreign countries should exer- 

 cise special care and not subject the fruit to too great a pressure, crushing the fruit into 

 the box in such a manner as to prevent it from springing back and completely filling the 

 box after the cover has been nailed on. 



Packages with a vacant space between the fruit and the cover are easily crushed by 

 the rope sling used in loading and unloading steamers and other vessels or when stepped 

 on by careless people. To overcome the danger of broken and crushed packages, pack- 

 ers should use "followers " in their presses of a thickness that when the press is down 

 the bottom of the "follower" will be on an exact level with the top of the box. 

 Naturally when the pressure is removed the fruit will swell and spring back a little 

 against the cover, and this will fill the box solid with fruit. 



Quotations on cured fruits to foreign buyers are made c. i. f. ; or, in other words, the 

 price named covers cost, freight, and insurance. Competition between local packers is 

 keen, and foreign buyers hesitate to pay anything extra for a strong package or extra 

 freight on the same; hence, the difficulty in adopting a standard package for export 

 trade, one having sufficient strength to withstand all the phases of transportation to 

 foreign countries. 



Your committee is of the opinion that a standard package for cured fruits would 

 certainly prove not only desirable, but also profitable to growers, packers, and ship- 

 pers, and particularly would this be the case with the box manufacturers. Packers 

 readily understand why it is that the box factories are unable to make prompt ship- 

 ment of shooks during the busy season. Packers, as a rule, anticipate their wants in 

 the way of box material and order in advance, but are not always far-seeing enough to 

 be prepared to meet the rush of orders during the busy season and must rely on the 

 box factories filling their orders with as little delay as possible. With boxes, as with 

 labels, the orders must be filled in their turn, and frequently the delays are not onh'- 

 very annoying, but also costly. 



Box factories are unable to cut and accumulate box material during the dull season, 

 owing to the fact that nearly every packer uses a different size or style of package. The 

 multiplicity of styles and sizes results in a great deal of confusion, although all aim at 

 the same result — a package to hold 25 or 50 pounds of cured fruit; hence, your commit- 

 tee can see no reason why an effort should not be made to adopt a standard package of 

 uniform size. 



The dimensions of the material used in manufacturing a standard 25-poand package 

 are as follows : 2 ends, %x5%x9 inches ; 2 sides, j%x5%x 1Q% inches ; top and bottom, 

 ^x9%xl6% inches. These measurements apply to package for domestic use. Same 

 measurements for the 25-pound export xjackage, except that the sides should be of %-mch. 

 stuff. Material cut as above will make a package measuring on the inside 5^ x 9 x 15}4 

 inches. 



The 50-pound package for domestic use measures on the inside 9% x 10% x 15% inches ; 

 ends should be %x9%xl0% inches; sides, %x9%xl6% inches; top and bottom, 

 ^^x 111^x16% inches. 



The50-pound domestic and export prune package should measure inside9%x9'%x 15>^ 

 inches; ends, %x9%x9% inches; sides, %x9%xl6% inches; top and bottom, 

 ^x 103^x16% inches. This package would be stronger and more desirable if %-inch 

 stuff was used for making top and bottom. 



