GRADING, PACKING, AND MARKETING FRUIT. 



179 



meet them. There are, of course, some growers who pack 

 fairly, especially in Middlesex and Kent, but none of them, to my 

 mind, take sufficient care, neither can the best of them compare 

 with the foreigners. In Pears we are lamentably behind. Of 

 course I grant that the French have a great advantage over us 

 in climate, but, if you take an equal sample, the Frenchman 

 would grade into sizes and pack carefully in layers, with no 

 stint of paper, and would certainly net a far better price in con- 

 sequence ; and it is the same with nearly every fruit we get from 

 abroad. Even the Oranges and Lemons, when not worth more 

 than 2s. per bushel, are each wrapped up separately in paper, 

 which not only protects the fruit from bruising, but if one goes 

 rotten it is not so likely to affect the others. I wonder what our 

 growers would think if they had to take such trouble with Apples 

 at that price ! Our methods did fairly well when fruit was all 

 consumed in London, but growers do not take into consideration 

 that, as quantity increases, a greater proportion must go by rail, 

 and must be packed accordingly ; and they also appear to ignore 

 the fact that, ours being a damper climate, with frequent rains 

 while the fruit is ripening, it requires more care than if it had 

 been grown in a drier climate, where there is often no rain at 

 all during the ripening season. 



It is quite clear that in the packing, &c, of outdoor fruit we 

 cannot compare with foreign growers. We will now see why this 

 is so, and if anything can be done to improve our methods. I 

 think a great deal of the bad packing is owing to the fact that 

 fruit-growers are not practical gardeners, but generally belong- 

 to some other business, and think that no trouble or care is 

 necessary. When we get fruit from bond fide gardeners or 

 nurserymen there is much more care taken, as they understand 

 the necessity of it, though they often err in letting it get too ripe 

 to stand the journey. But as we get farther and farther afield, 

 as we do every year, we find the packing gets worse. It almost 

 seems as if farmers thought they had done everything when they 

 have just planted the trees. They do not seem to imagine that 

 there is any art or skill required in either the fruit-growing or 

 fruit-packing ; indeed, I often fancy that good packers, like poets, 

 are born, not made. 



In regard to hothouse fruit, then, I think that we have kept 

 steadily improving. The main thing to remember is to pack 



n2 



