30 



ferred by hand and not dumped or thrown out. Care should be taken 

 also to see that the fruit of one is not crowded against the crown of 

 another, as the punctures caused by the spines afford ingress to 

 spores of decay. The collecting crate should be deep enough to hold 

 not more than two layers and allow another crate to be placed upon 

 it without touching the fruit. The crates should also u nest " into 

 one another so they will hold firm upon the wagon. This nesting- 

 can be easily made by nailing strips around the outside of each crate, 

 allowing the strips to project from one-half to one inch above the 

 ends and sides. Care should be taken to see that there are no nail 

 points, slivers, or projections of any kind that can injure the fruit. 

 It is natural, when transportation facilities are not first class, to lay 

 the poor carrying of fruit upon the transportation company. Even 

 if the transportation facilities are poor, it is safe to say that a con- 

 siderable proportion of the rotting of the fruit is due to injuries 

 received by carelessness in gathering and preparation for shipment. 



In hauling to the packing house, wagons with good springs should 

 be used, as fruit unpacked is more susceptible to being injured by 

 jars than when packed. 



PACKING HOUSE. 



It is impossible to design a packing house that will meet the needs 

 of all conditions and packers, but there are certain essentials that 

 govern every well-arranged house. These may be summed up as 

 follows : 



(1) Arrange so that one operation will not interfere with another. 



The entrance for fruit should be on one side and the exit on an- 

 other, and the curing, grading, sizing, packing, and final operations 

 should be so arranged that they Avill come in the above order and be 

 continuous. 



(2) Avoid as far as possible all lifting or lowering of the fruit, 

 either packed or unpacke( . 



One of the best arrangements is to have the main packing floor 

 about on a level with the wagon box. Have floor space enough to 

 let the fruit cure in the field crates. Let the bins for graded and 

 sized fruit be along one side or across one end of the building and 

 open at both ends, so that they are filled from one side and emptied 

 from another. From each bin run a packing bench of proper height, 

 and let these benches be continuous with the bench used for nailing up 

 the boxes, so that the boxes of fruit can be slid along the bench from 

 packer to nailer and from nailer to finisher and stenciler. This saves 

 all lifting and possible dropping of the packed boxes, and the princi- 

 ple can be applied in many modifications to suit conditions. If econ- 

 omy of room is necessary, the boxes can be made in a basement below 



