12 JOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The general opinion is, undoubtedly, that those growers who have 

 adopted the cheap non-returnable boxes and barrels for marketing all the 

 best-quality fruit, especially Apples, have been successful in getting better 

 prices in the Irish and English markets. That careful grading has also 

 been productive of higher prices. That the one- and two-dozen " flats " 

 or boxes for the very best dessert and cooking Apples have been 

 decidedly popular with the best buyers of the choicest fruit. 



The use of punnets for Strawberries and Raspberries, where they are 

 to be used for eating, promises to become almost universal in Ireland, the 

 sale of punnets this year being, I am informed, exceptionally large. The 

 flats to hold three dozen dessert Apples have not met with public approval ; 

 they proved to be too long, too clumsy, and too expensive, and their use 

 by the majority of growers has been discontinued. The three-dozen flat 

 for cooking Apples has, on the other hand, been found serviceable and 

 popular. The 80-lb. standard box has not been used to the extent 

 expected : it costs as much as or more than the barrel, which holds 50 per 

 cent, more ; and the " pot " not being known in Ireland as it is in England, 

 this size has not met a public want in Ireland. 



Grades C and D of cooking and dessert Apples are not now packed 

 in flats ; it has been found that only A and B grades paid for the extra 

 trouble in these boxes. 



A new package for delivering soft and stone fruit to the bottling and 

 canning concerns has been tried and found effectual in preventing these 

 fruits from being crushed, bruised, or broken in transit. This package 

 has helped the fruit preserver very considerably ; the flats are returned 

 in the crate, and are washed after use. In some instances grease-proof 

 paper has been used as lining with advantage. A new 3^-lb. punnet for 

 Blackberries has been tried ; it has found favour with the private user 

 of Blackberries and has apparently come to stay. A crate has been 

 made to hold sixteen of these, and another holding ten 5-lb. boxes where 

 the latter has been used for Damsons ; this crate has also been found of 

 service. A new flat punnet for Strawberries and Raspberries has been 

 tried this year ; so far it has not found the favour desired, although in 

 some respects it is an improvement on the old punnet. A new punnet 

 holding one quart of machine-shelled and sorted fresh Peas has been tried 

 with satisfactory results by one grower. 



I show samples of the different packages recommended in the 

 pamphlet, excepting those not now in use. The prices of these boxes 

 per gross, f .0. rail Dublin, are marked on their tops, these prices varying, 

 of course, with the price of timber ; also of the wood-wool used, which 

 must not be resinous for obvious reasons. 



The barrel for Apples is, of course, the most used of all the packages. 

 Many growers pack their first- and second-grade fruit in these at the time 

 of gathering, being careful to avoid bruising. Many barrels have been 

 held back and marketed in the months of March and April in the follow- 

 ing year ; the fruit has been found to keep very well. The bulk of the 

 barrels are sent to market without the head in one end, but with the fruit 

 piled up, covered with hay and tied ; where barrels have been properly 

 headed an extra price has been paid. 



The use of distinctive brands by growers has not been adopted to 



