20 BULLETIN 1206, T. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
container to another or by carefully dumping on the burlap-topped 
grading tables. The graders and packers should wear cotton gloves 
and should be careful to prevent Tbniising. Injuries to cured stock 
are dangerous, as they do not heal like those made at harvest time. 
Rapid decay follows bruising and scratching and often results in a 
substantial loss. 
PACKING. 
Inexperienced shippers who have not observed the condition of car- 
lot arrivals in receiving markets fail to appreciate the Importance of 
careful packing at the shipping point. A slack pack is one of the 
distinguishing characteristics of southern sweet-potato shipments. 
The constant jolting of a long freight haul causes considerable settling, 
and containers that appear to be full when loaded often arrive at 
destination only partially full. Loose packing not only causes 
damage to both the containers and their contents but also discourages 
buying. No one wants to buy at full-bushel prices a bushel package 
only three-fourths full. With well-filled containers on display from 
competing sections, wholesale dealers are forced either to repack 
or to offer partially filled packages at lower prices. 
PACKING METHODS. 
The irregular shape of the sweet potato, especially southern varie- 
ties, makes it a difficult product to pack. Jumble packing is almost 
certain to result in a slack pack on arrival in consuming markets, 
and should not be practiced. To carry properly, to arrive full, and 
to impress buyers favorably, each potato should be handled and 
placed in proper position in the package. Figure 7 illustrates an 
approved method of packing a crate. Each potato is placed in the 
crate with its longest diameter, as far as possible, parallel to the 
sides of the crate. Each layer is arranged so that vacant spaces are 
filled and settling thereby prevented. The same care should be 
exercised in packing hampers and baskets. 
In filling barrels a small basket may be used to lower and empty 
half-bushel lots into the barrel without bruising. As each lot of 
potatoes is emptied settling should be forced by rocking the barrel 
back and forth witli a jerky movement. This process is known as 
"racking." If burlap covers are used, they should be placed over 
the second top hoop and the top hoop should be forced down over 
the burlap so that its edges are confined between the two hoops. 
If wooden tops are used, the barrels should be headed with a screw 
press. 
THE BULGE PACK. 
A bulged package is popular with the buying public and often 
helps to develop a demand for the product of a certain locality or a 
certain shipper. The lidded crate in Figure 8 illustrates bulged 
packing. The depth of the pack is greater in the center than at the 
ends, so that the lid is bulged when it is nailed down. Packers some- 
times obtain a bulge on the bottom by inserting a piece of 2 by 4 under 
the end of the crate farthest from them. By thus elevating one end 
they force a bulge. The amount of bulge on a crate should be 
about 1 to \\ inches. A packed basket should be moderately round- 
ing. The bulge should not be higher than IV inches above the rim 
of the basket at the center and not over three-fourths of an inch at 
