Principles of Packing 



219 



be done. If possible, this house should have a pit or 

 cellar at one end in which vegetables can be kept tem- 

 porarily or even stored for the winter. 



In the packing of vegetables, it is well to bear in 

 mind the following essentials: (1) Pack snug. This 

 is particularly important if the vegetables are to be 

 shipped any considerable distance. A large part of 

 the vegetables in our city markets is handled from 

 ten to fifteen times from the field to the consumer. 

 Vegetables that are packed snug not only bear trans- 

 portation better, but they keep longer and present a 

 more attractive appearance. In the better kinds of 

 vegetables this snug packing is secured by placing 

 each specimen by hand. (2) Pack in grades. This 

 contributes not only to the appearance of the vege- 

 table, but also to the snugness of packing. Vegeta- 

 bles like melons, tomatoes and others that are used 

 as table delicacies and accessories, are usually sold by 

 the smallest specimens in the package rather than by 

 the large ones. If the specimens are sorted into two 

 grades, the smaller ones will usually sell as well as the 

 mixed lot, and the larger ones will sell much better. 

 Since the grading of vegetables is a matter of mental 

 ideals, the grade varies with every packer, and it is 

 therefore often difficult to secure sufficient uniformity 

 to enable one to sell his products under a trade -mark. 

 However, if one has uniform packages and gives close 

 attention to the details of the business, he should 

 be able to establish a series of grades that will be 

 associated with his name in the market. (3) In the 

 finer or dessert vegetables it is well to pack in some 



