LOJP' FR/CES OF FRUIF. 



227 



with clean fruit, as that will injure your reputation 

 with the bu3'er. All the old and experienced fruit- 

 raisers have found that the best way to get the highest 

 price for their fruit is to put it up honestly. Such 

 packing enables the commission dealer to "chalk up" 

 that mark or brand as being sold, and for which he is 

 sure of getting the highest price. But if the fruit is not 

 put up honestly and satisfactorily it has to be sold to 

 peddlers at low prices. 



The crate now used in New York markets, and giving 

 the best satisfaction, is the 32-square-q.uart ventilated 

 crate. In buying crates, see that they are ventilated or 

 have openings between the top of crate and cover. The 

 openings should not be in the cover, as they would let in 

 dust. The heat and sweat, in unventilated crates, rise 

 up against the cover and condense, falling back on the 

 top layer of berries and turning them black. There 

 can be seen daily in the market, after the busy first sales 

 are over, salesmen changing the top layer of baskets to 

 the bottom, and bringing bright fresh ones on top. 



The berries sh(iuld be picked ripe, or of full color, 

 when to be sold within twelve hours after picking. If 

 to be longer on the way, they should be a trifle under- 

 ripe but yet full colored. If to be sent by express, use 

 a crate known as the express crate, costing a little 

 more than half the price of the standard crate, and 

 only half the weight. 



R.\SPBERRIES. 



The same care and attention should be used in pick- 

 ing and packing this fruit as in strawberries. For 

 black-caps, use pint baskets, but for the red varieties 

 one-thirds and half pints should be used, as anything 

 larger makes too large a bulk and the fruit is mashed 



by its own weight. There are long pint cups made and 

 sold by the leading manufacturers which will fit in the 

 32-quart crate, so that the strawberry crate can be used 

 for shipping black-caps. 



BLACKBERRIES. 



Blackberries should be picked and packed nearly the 

 same as strawberries. They are shipped in quarts or 

 long pints. Great care should be taken to keep out all 

 bruised, soft, or mashed berries. Packages must be well 

 filled, to allow for shrinking. 



HUCKLEBERRIES. 



The best package for this fruit is a quart measure, 

 using the 32-square quart crate. See that the packages 

 are tight enough at the corners to prevent the fruit from 

 shaking out. The leading manufacturers make a special 

 quart box for this fruit, being cjpsed at the corners and 

 fitting the 32-quart strawberry crate. The fruit shipped 

 in quarts always brings a higher price, and is of more 

 ready sale than shipped in half bushel tight boxes. 



CURRANTS. 



Currants should be ripe or nearly so when picked. 

 Keep out all bruised or mashed fruit, as a few rr.ashed 

 berries will ferment and turn the whole package sour in 

 a very short time. They should also be as dry as 

 possible. If picked wet, they should be spread out 

 thinly in a cool dry place before packing. They should 

 also be free from leaves. The best package is the 32- 

 square quart crate. The packages, when well filled, 

 will hold, on an average, i '4 pounds, and they are sold 

 by weight. Some parties use the ten-pound covered 

 veneer grape basket, but buyers mostly prefer quart 

 packages. S, B. Conover. 



LOW PRICES OF FRUIT. 



A grower's opinions. 



HE question of low prices 

 of fruit discussed by C. 

 W. Idell in the Febru- 

 ary G .V R D E N, is most 

 important, though I 

 differ with him on some 

 points. He is undoubt- 

 edly right in condemn- 

 ing the practice of ship- 

 ping poor fruit to the cities ; he wisely advises 

 growers to plant less acres, to devote more care to 

 securing fruit of better quality. 'The grower has 

 tried the plan of growing large, fine-flavored berries, 

 packing in neat, new packages full to the top, put- 

 ting pretty green leaves on to make the fruit look 

 well, has written the name of the variety on the 

 package and stenciled his own name on the crate 

 as a guarantee of good faith, and all to little avail. 



You make a shipment, receive a dispatch telling you 

 your fine fruit has sold well and to "ship heavy to- 

 morrow." You feel encouraged, but when a day or so 

 latter you learn that your fine Sharpless strawberries 

 have sold at the same price as your neighbor's small and 

 soft Crescents, inferior in every respect, you fail to see 

 why if the "taste of the consumer has become so much 

 more cultivated" for fine fruit of good quality, you did 

 not get an advanced price. These are facts from the 

 grower's standpoint. I know that the huckster gets an 

 advanced price and that the consumer pays it, but the 

 point is, does the grower receive the benefit he should ? 

 I think not. 



When five crates of choice berries from a small 

 grower have to sell fifty crates of inferior ones from a 

 larger grower, I fail to see how the small grower can 

 continue to grow choice berries that do not yield half 

 the quantity of the smaller ones per acre, and for 

 which he receives the same price. To make choice 

 fruit plentiful in the city markets, the grower must re- 



