MARKETING BARRELED APPLES 23 
Karly apples are mostly picked when well colored and beginning 
to drop. Distant shippers must necessarily pick them before they 
are quite ripe, and it is a common practice 1n a few localities to thin 
_ the crop three weeks or a month before ripe and to place these late 
thinnings on the market. Usually an orchard of early varieties is 
gone over at least twice during the regular harvest season because of 
uneven ripening. The sorting and packing are often done in the 
orchard. Grading is much neglected, but according to the best 
practice the fruit is run through a sorting and sizing process; the 
ackages are uniformly packed and the top of each is ring faced. A 
few packers ring pack the entire basket. 
Many early apples are packed in market boxes of various sizes. 
Those used in southern Illinois hold two-thirds of a bushel, and those 
in the East about a bushel. The boxes may be filled from the side. 
Others have slat covers, and can be filled from the top. Peck baskets, 
hampers of various sizes, the 6-basket and 4-basket crates are used in 
the South. 
WINDFALLS 
The windfalls and drops are often of little importance since the 
general prevalence of thorough spraying, but sometimes destruc- 
tive wind storms or other causes bring a large percentage of the crop 
to the ground. The fallen fruit is commonly graded like orchard 
run, the cider apples being thrown out. The windfalls are poor 
keepers but are fit for use earlier than the picked fruit. Many are 
shipped in baskets and many in bulk to market or cannery. Where 
local markets are good the fruit is often taken by peddlers. Wind- 
falls and drops of late varieties, in general sell for one-third to one- 
half the price of picked orchard run and from two to six times the 
price of cider apples. Selected windfalls and drops of some of the 
early varieties are only a little more perishable than the hand picked 
and may bring close to the same price if sold in near-by markets. 
Markets for windfalls are chiefly local and vary according to the 
supply and quality. 
Details of harvesting and packing methods are available in Far- 
mers Bulletin 1080, ‘“‘ Preparation of Barreled Apples for Market.”’ 
SOME WEAK POINTS OF BARRELED STOCK 
Weak points in the preparation of barreled stock for market are 
reflected later in prices. Defects in handling methods include the 
following: A failure to grade uniformly for defects and for color; a 
lack of proper sizing; inadequate packing methods and machinery 
which result in numerous bruises and skin punctures. 
The packs of barreled stock, especially from near-by shipping 
points, receive criticism in wholesale markets because of their irreg- 
ularity. The barreled stock is seldom as carefully graded as the 
western boxed apples and one of the greatest improvements that 
could be made would be in this direction. The next would be to 
standardize the grade names. For instance, from different States, 
during the season, barreled stock of a similar quality may be mar- 
keted under A, No. 1, Commercial pack, Fancy, and Private brand. 
It is difficult for the growers to know when they read market quota- 
ions what class of such stock is being quoted. 
Barreled apples have such a wide range of condition and ENE 
even though marked by the same grade term, that an exceedingly 
