90 PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERs' CONVENTION. 



it is easier to hire a good man to drive an eight-mule jerk-line team 

 than it is to engage one who will plow with a single horse in the vine- 

 yard, for even our laborers do not like small things. This same spirit 

 enters into fruit-packing. 



Personally I have found it impossible to pack the Emperor grapes up 

 to standard without being in the packing-house myself. Personal over- 

 sight increases the selling prices from $100 to $500 per carload. Surely 

 this is good pay for two days' work. When not there the packers will 

 slip in fruit that makes me blush when I overturn a crate to inspect 

 their work. What can the Eastern buyer think if he receives such fruit 

 under our brand? 



Another serious fault is the crowding of the packers to put up so 

 many boxes or crates in a day. Of course it is possible to have girls 

 who are heedless and also slow; drop these out at once, but never try to 

 drive a woman who is doing careful work — she should be treasured. 



All fruit needs careful handling from the beginning. In hauling 

 grapes from the vineyard to the packing-house, we use the large raisin 

 sweat-box, putting two inches of long alfalfa hay in the bottom of the 

 box, then a large sheet of raisin paper. Each bunch is laid down care- 

 fully on this soft nest, and only one bunch in depth, so that the bloom 

 is perfectly preserved. The boxes are hauled on spring trucks to the 

 packing-house, and piled for the next day's packing, usually twenty-four 

 hours being allowed for the stems to toughen and lose their crispness. 

 The size of these boxes makes it necessary to have two men to handle 

 them to prevent them from jamming. 



The grapes reaching the packing-table, the girls first pick out the 

 cluster fruit. Bunches that are absolutely perfect in size of berries, 

 shape, and color, that weigh five pounds, are packed as Imperial clusters 

 in quarter crates. The fancy cluster comes next in grade, and are only 

 a shade less perfect. Next comes the regular cluster, usually bunches 

 that, if they are red, have a few small berries, or that may be perfect 

 as to berries, light or dark Emperors not true to color. 



No bunch of less than a pound should go East. For this reason, we 

 do not altogether favor the use of the form, as the temptation is greater 

 to clip up the bunches in order to make a smoother facing. 



These methods of careful picking and handling should be followed 

 with canning fruit. The same careful handling, grading, and culling 

 apply here, and after the fruit has been peeled and cored, the most 

 delicate system of trimming and selecting should be practiced, in order 

 to make the fruit of the highest possible grade and quality in its par- 

 ticular class, and to have the pieces uniform in size, color, and appear- 

 ance, when it is emptied out of the can for sampling or inspection. We 

 have found by experience that honest, careful, and artistic packing 

 pays well in dollars and cents, and returns interest value, by way of 



