Dkcember 21, 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



975 



PACKING APPLES FOR 



MARKET. 



Ill our is^ue of the 14th iiist. we referred 

 at some length to the importanoe of fruit 

 growers adopting^ more modern methad« of 

 packing apples for market than thos- which 

 are regarded with favour by the majority of 

 those who are engaged in the fruit industry. 

 As we endeavoured to show, sieve and half- 

 sieve and other baskets still enjoy a high 

 degree of popularity for the conveyance of 

 apples from the place of production to tlio 

 markets, although far inferior to phiin 

 l)Oxes of a moderate degree of strengtli for 

 the purpose. Their inferiority consists in 

 the difficulty, if not impossibility, of so 

 packing the fruits as to prevent movement 

 in course of transit, and thereby avoiding the 

 injury caused by friction. We need not dwell 

 at any length on the fact that apples which 

 axe packed in baskets that are not provided 

 with closely-fitting lids suffer considerable 

 damage in the course of a comparatively short 

 railway journey, but it should be mentioned 

 l)ecause of the importance of constantly 

 keeping this point in view. When apples, or 

 indeed any other fruits, are damaged in 

 transit they are not only less attractive, but 

 they quickly ]>egin to show signs of decay, 

 and are therefore of much less value to the 



price in time.'* There is really no justifica- 

 tion for the assumption that sixpence for a 

 non-returnable box is a severe handicap on 

 profits. The consumer who appreciates fruit 

 that reaches him in a sound state without 

 having been handled in the conrs.P of frnii«i'+ 



will readily pay an additional «ixpi^nce for 

 the 401b. or so of fruit that the box will 

 contain, and the grower will have no occa- 

 sion to trouble about returned tjmpties. 

 which, by the way, the railway companies 

 do not return free, and usually' suffer more 

 or lese from rough usage on tlie return 

 journey. The inside mea.suroment of the 

 boxes that have \y?vu lirought into ])romi- 

 ncnce by the Wye authorities measure 2() 

 inches in length, 11 inches in width, and 

 10 inches in depth, and <!ontain, when 

 properly packed, about 4(flb. of apples. A 

 box of this size will be found the motst con- 

 venient for the majority of households. 



The packing and marketing of apples in 

 Ontario have reached a high degree of 

 development within recent years, and the 

 bulletin recently issued by the Department 

 of Agriculture for the Province o,i Ap])le 

 Orcharding'' contains niucli iisflul informa- 

 tion on the markeling of apples. It it. stated 

 by the writer of the bulletin that ''Some of 

 our apples are graded and packed in the 

 orchard and shipped direct to market. The 



l>oxes. The demand for boxed fruit in Great 

 IJritain is increasing aLso^ but that country, 

 together with other Juiropean imi>orteiYs, will 

 continue to take the bulk of their fruit in 

 barrels. Box-packed applets may meet with 

 poor returns at first, but once introduced 

 to the trade, thev tshould, and undoubtedlv 

 will, give better net prices to the grower. 

 Any failure may bo attributed largely to 

 low quality and poor packing. 



'* All summer and early autumn apples 

 sliould be sold in Canadian markets in l^oxes. 



The fruit carries better and finds a readier 

 market, e«i>ecially in the west. In the local 

 marketfc), and to some extent in the western 

 markotts^ tliere i^ a good demand for summer 

 apples, such as Astrachan and Duchess, put 

 up in baskets, Tho fancy and No. 1 grade 

 of apples will alwayw bring better prices in 

 boxes and baskets tlian in the l>arrel. The 

 fruit being soft suffers far less from l)ruising 

 in the smaller package. 



** The standard box is 10 inelics deep, 11 

 inches wide, and 2() inches long, inside mea- 

 surement. It should be made of good clear 

 spruce lumber, tlio ends ^in, tliick, sides 2? 

 lop ^in. ; cleats iu]. tliick and ^in. wide, 

 (jiood cleats will be a saving of both time 

 and patience. Pine should not he used as 

 the wood taints the fruit. In most <'ases tlie 

 boxes Ale bouylit set up. Wlu're thtn' are to 



CULINAEY APPLES PACKED IX A SINGLE LAYER 



consumer. On the other hand, apples pro- 

 perly packed in boxes can be sent long dis- 

 tances by railway and other means of con- 

 veyance without suffering appreciable in- 

 jury. We have put the matter to a prac- 

 tical test on more than one occasion, and 

 have found that the boxed fruit keep so 

 much longer as to be Avorth at least 50 per 



cent, more than similar fruit iiacked iii 

 baskets. 



It follows therefore that if undamaged 

 fruits are worth fiftv per cent, more to the 

 consumer, the latter will assess the value 

 according^ to the length of time over which 

 the supplies remain in good condition, and 

 that if the boxed fruit will remain sound 

 longer than that packed in baskets, he will 

 ^llingly give a higher price for his supplies. 

 As duly recorded in these pages, the authori- 

 ties of the Wye College have, during the past 

 three years, been giving special attention to 

 tue packing of apples for transit, and the 

 demonstrations of th- usefulness of boxes, 

 •>oth at Wye College and the exhibi- 

 tion held in Maidstone in October last, 

 pave had a highly beneficial effect In creat- 



interest in the subjeet. With 

 ^^terence to the exhibition, we have just 

 '^<'n reading in a report that '\Mxpniec'' for 

 non-returnable box is a severe handicap 

 profits, especially when time has to be 

 paid for in grading and packing, but a real 

 ?ood, reliable, sound article will fetch its 



majority are roughly graded, packed in bar- 

 rels, and sent to the storehouse where they 

 arc re-packed. The chief package is the 

 barrel, which, for some years to come, will 

 be the standard for our ordinary grades of 

 such varieties as Greening, Baldwin, Russet, 

 Stark, and Pen Davis." Parrels are superior 

 to baskets, inasmuch as when the packing is 

 done with care a^nd the press judiciously 

 usied, the fruit can be conveyed long dis- 

 tances without injury. Proceeding, the 

 writer states : The box package, so much 

 admired, is the standard for western 

 groAvers, and where Ave come into competition 

 with them it is likely that avo shall have to 

 adopt their style of packing for our fancy 

 fruit. Undoubtedly apples present a much 

 more beautiful appearance w^hen properly 

 packed in boxes, and it is quite certain they 

 hold up longer and show fewer bruises. Our 

 fancy grades should all be boxed, especially 

 the earlv and tender kinds, such as Fameusie 



and Mclntocsh, and the better grades of Spy, 

 King, etc. 



" The packing of fruit iu boxes by tin* 

 Ontario groAvers is greatly on the in- 

 crease. Local marketvs in Ontario and 

 Quebec are using more boxes than before. The 

 wesitern markets are asking for their fancy 

 fruit in this package, and if our groAver^ ai\' 

 to participate in tluve markets lor Jiigli- 

 priccd goods they must ship the greater per. 

 centage, if not all. o) No. \ fancy fruit in 



be shipped a long distance it Avill be a great 

 saying in freiglti to buy them in the flat. 

 It is not an expen.>ivo operation to nail them 

 togetlier, and tlicy oeenpy much lews space 

 in tlie fruit house. Too many nails should 

 not be u>ed and *>nly as many a.s are abso- 

 lutely niee>.-^ary to put tlie l>ox >trongly to- 

 getlier. If tlie sides, ttjps, and liottoms are 

 in two pieces, four nails in each end will 

 be enough. If they axe in one piece, three are 

 aQl that Avill be necesisary. The tops and bot- 

 t(»ms ^houId be nailed with the cleats. Inch 

 and three-quarter gummed box nails for the 

 feidcs and tw(»-inch nails for the tops and 

 bottoms Avill hold much better than ordinai-y 

 nails. Jh^fore using, the cleats should Ik? 

 >oaked for a couple of hours in AA'ater to 

 avoid splitting. 



*' A o-i't at nuniv make-shifts can be used 

 for packing t a hies. Tiiey must be so ar- 

 ranged that tile j-tand tor the box is close to 

 the fruit so as to facilitate speed for pack- 

 ing. The small portable taltles made on 

 the principle of the folding cot Avitli a |>03i- 

 tion on each side ft^r a box are useful for 

 the individual grower. In large pac'king 

 houses loner stationar\' tai)les built of heavier 

 material are best. The surface of a table 

 for two should be aibout three feet wide and 

 not more than five feet long, as anything 



h 



larger Avould not allow two packers to 

 all points of it Avithcut unnecessary stretch- 



The table slunild be Inofh enough to 



mg. 



