10 BULLETIN 861, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGKICULTUKE. 
some varieties, small unripened berries are found at picking time, 
and sometimes some of the berries in a bunch, especially those at 
the shoulder, are so tender as to crack or shell at picking. 
FIELD OR PACKING-HOUSE TRIMMING. 
Trimming may be done as the grapes are picked, in which case 
they are packed directly into the final container, or the grapes may 
be hauled to the packing house in trays and there trimmed and 
packed. The advantage of packing in the field is one of convenience, 
for the resultant pack is usually one of relatively low quality, as 
many defective berries are overlooked; also short measure is likely 
to occur in field packing. The principal cause is the shrinkage of the 
fruit after leaving the vine. The disadvantages of trimming and 
filling in the packing house are the added expense and the mechani- 
cal injury often caused by the additional handling, which may be 
minimized, however, by careful methods. It is generally believed 
that the resultant pack is usually of a higher quality than if done in 
the vineyard. The careful trimming made necessary by any serious 
damage, either by insects or disease, can best be done in the packing 
house. Many grapes from the Central Lakes and the Hudson River 
Valley districts of New York receive this extra attention, but in the 
Chautauqua-Erie belt insect and fungus injury are so light that a 
very good quality can be packed in the field by a moderately careful 
picker. 
Central packing houses have been operated in a few instances, but 
without great success, due to various factors, such as extreme perish- 
ability of the product, the difficulty of securing sufficient skilled 
labor, and the high overhead cost of a packing plant for the short 
period of use. 
GRADES. 
No standard grades of grapes, as such, have been adopted, but 
certain cooperative associations and individual shippers have estab- 
lished reputations for high quality and good pack and receive a 
premium for their stock, which is marked by attractive labels pasted 
on the cover of the baskets in which their grapes are shipped. Two 
and 4 quart baskets may be labeled or branded in this manner, but 
12-quart baskets not so conveniently. Branded stock recedes a 
premium of from 1 to 4 cents over unbrandecl, generally about 1 to 
\\ cents on 2-quart baskets and 2 to 2-J cents on 4-quart baskets. 
CONTAINERS. 
Wooden veneer baskets, of the Climax type, have oeen adopted as 
the standard package for table stock, in 2, 4 and 12 quart sizes, 
dimensions prescribed by Federal statute in 1916. Before this law 
