STORAGE OF CALIFORNIA TABLE GRAPES. 5 
marketed in splint baskets inclosed in slatted crates. The full or 
"double'' crates formerly contained eight 5-pound baskets, but these 
are now used only to a slight extent. The smaller crates in common 
use, sometimes designated as half crates, contain four 5-pound baskets 
or two 10-pound baskets, packed high to make a full net weight of 
24 to 26 pounds of fruit. Although no filler had been used in pack- 
ing grapes for commercial shipments before the Bureau work was 
begun, systematic investigation soon showed the use of the ordinary 
commercial crate without a filler to be unsuitable for packing grapes 
intended for long-time storage. Tight boxes holding about 10 
pounds of fruit were used in the first experiments, some of the grapes 
being packed with a filler and some without a filler. The tight pack- 
ages without a filler proved to be as unsuitable for long storage as 
were the slatted crates. When a filler was employed, however, the 
period during which the grapes could be held in good condition was 
considerably lengthened, and for long storage a filler was found to be 
absolutely necessary. 
When the search for a suitable material was begun by the Bureau, 
workers the standard of comparison first used was cork dust, or 
ground cork, similar to that in which the Spanish grapes are packed. 
(PI. I, fig. 2.) It was soon realized, however, that it would be prac- 
tically impossible to obtain large quantities of cork on the Pacific 
coast at a price sufficiently low to make possible its commercial use, 
and the Department work therefore included the study of a number 
of possible substitutes. As there were no precedents to guide these 
early investigations, every possible filling material was thoroughly 
tested, including corn pith, shredded paper, wheat bran, corn meal, 
coconut pollen, ground and shredded tule, and redwood sawdust. 
It is unnecessary to describe in detail the results of these tests, since 
all except the redwood sawdust proved unsatisfactory for one reason 
or another. Fortunately for the California table-grape industry 
if this system of handling assumes large commercial importance, the 
redwood sawdust from the start proved even superior to the ground 
cork. The grapes were found to keep longer and in better condition 
under the same storage conditions when packed with a filler of red- 
wood sawdust than with any other material. This surprising success 
was at first questioned, but repeated investigations during the past 
seven seasons have fully corroborated the results of the early work. 
The reason for the better holding quality of redwood sawdust is 
not fully understood. In the first experiments the sawdust from 
planing mills was used (PI. II, fig. 1), and as this was composed 
almost entirely of very minute particles its superior holding quality 
was thought to be due to the fineness of the material. A comparison 
of cork ground to the same degree of fineness showed, however, that 
