190 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Further, the 5 -lb. boxes are well adapted for selling across the 

 counter without breaking bulk. The fruit itself looks most 

 attractive when packed in this style ; the size of the package 

 suits most ordinary households ; and the box itself is decidedly 

 worth having. The retail price, too, would generally keep 

 within half-a-crown — a coin which no one would grudge for a 

 good sample of the article, but which many housekeepers would 

 hesitate to exceed. To the retailer himself, selling without 

 breaking bulk saves so much trouble and loss that he can afford 

 to encourage the system by generous prices. 



The extra large selected fruits, on the other hand, should be 

 sold by the dozen, and should be denned as being within certain 

 limits of weight. They are packed in large boxes — otherwise 

 used for cooking Apples — which will hold about three dozen 

 dessert Apples, averaging 7 oz. each. Each fruit is carefully 

 wrapped in soft paper, and abundant wood wool is placed 

 between the layers. 



Mr. Archibald Weir went on to say that he had compared a 

 Kentish grower's transaction with his own as follows : — 



Statement of Sale of 50 5-lb. boxes 

 to Retail Trader. 



£ s. d. 



50 boxes, with complement 



of wood wool, paper, 



and string, including 



cost of carriage from 



London manufacturers 



to Devonshire grower . 0 14 7 

 Labour of grading, pack- 

 ing, and marking . .040 

 Cartage to station . .010 

 Kailway freight from 



Devonshire to London .055 

 250 lbs. Cox's Orange 



Pippin, at 6s. per 20 lbs. 3 15 0 



Kentish Grower's Statement. 



Gross return by 50 boxes £5 0_ 



at 2s. per box. * ===s 

 Net return, 6s. per 20 lbs. 



Packing and carting 

 Commission and carriage 

 280 lbs. Cox's Orange 

 Pippin, remarkably fine 

 and ripe, at 3s. per 201bs. 



2 2 0 



Gross return by 8 half- £2 11 

 sieves at 3s. 9d., and 6 ' 

 half-sieves at 3s. 6d. 



Net return, 3s. per 20 lbs. 



The working expenses were certainly 25 per cent, of the 

 gross returns, against the 17 per cent, of the Kentish grower, 

 who did not trouble to pack and grade ; but then the returns 

 were so much larger, being 6s. for 20 lbs. of fruit, whereas the 



