HOJA. 
How  to  Pack  Good  Apples 
The  Story  of  the  Barrel 
THE  LAST  ACT.— The  picture.  Fig.  474..  shows 
one  of  the  last  acts  in  a  process  which  begins 
as  soon  as  the  previous  crop  is  oft;  the  trees.  If  one 
is  to  pack  good  apples  they  must  be  well  grown. 
This  involves  many  operations  of  pruning,  spraying, 
cn  1 1 iva ting,  thi unin g. 
etc.,  which  cannot, 
he  discussed  here. 
After  the  apples  are 
well  grown  they 
must  be  well  picked. 
A  good  pack  cannot 
he  in  a  d  e  of  wind¬ 
falls,  nor  of  apples 
w  h  i  c  h  have  been 
shaken  off  the  trees. 
Opinions  differ  as  to 
the  best  method  of 
picking,  and*  m  a  n  y 
very  strong  state¬ 
ments  li  a  v  e  bee  n 
made  in  the  papers. 
The  fact  is  that  any 
m  e  t  h  o  d  is  good 
which  produces  the 
greatest  amount  of 
fruit  without  bruises 
which  will  show 
w  h  e  n  the  apple  is 
delivered  to  the  con¬ 
sumer.  Baldwin  and 
Ben  Davis  can  he 
handled  by  methods 
which  would  be  very 
had  in  the  case  of 
Greening  or  North¬ 
ern  Spy.  Apples 
which  are  picked  too 
soon  will  not  keep  so 
well,  and  will  bruise 
more  easily  t'li  a  u 
those  which  are  ma¬ 
tured  on  the.  trees 
Some  of  the  objec¬ 
tions  to  the  better 
median  ica  1  graders 
comes  from  apples 
which  were  bruised 
before  they  reached 
the  sorting  t  a  h  1  e. 
Some  apples  must  lie 
picked  in  baskets, 
hut  the  more  rapid 
m  e  t  li  o  d  of  using 
picking  sacks  or  luck¬ 
ing  frocks  is  all  right 
with  others. 
THE  SORTING 
TABLE.  —  A  g  o  n  d 
sorting  table  is  about 
nine  feet  long,  3*4 
feet  wide,  four  feet 
high  at  the  hack  and 
just  high  enough  for 
a  barrel  to  go  under  at  the  front.  Beginning  about 
two  feet  from  the  lower  end  narrow  it  down  so  that 
it  is  about  lo  inches  wide  where  the  barrel  stands. 
Cleats  should  he  placed  at  this  end,  so  that  a  mov¬ 
able  gate  may  he  used.  The  sides  of  the  table  are 
six  inches  high.  Such  a  table  can  be  used  in  the 
orchard  or  in  the  packing  house.  In  the  orchard 
it  is  often  built  with  wheels  iu  place  of  the  rear 
legs.  This  table  will  liold  two  or  three  barrels  of 
apples-  at  a  time,  and  give  room  for  sorting.  The 
apples  hye'poured  on  at  the.  upper  end  and  worked 
down  ifs  the* poor  ou^are  Removed.  They  should 
be  worked ‘how  n  to  a  single  layer  when  they  reach 
the  end  w’Ttw*i  .the  man  Is  ham-ling.  The  poor  ap¬ 
ples  slrouhJ^JiiitTS  jAjeu;  picked  out  before  the  good 
ones  reach  tins  poTiitT  The  business  of  the  barreler 
v 
-  4* 
■■■ 
y 
* 
Putting  a  Head  on  the  Apple  Barrel.  Fig.  474 
is  to  see  that  the  apples  reach  their  place  in  the 
barrel  without  bruising  and  that  apples  which  are 
imperfect  or  too  small  are  kept  out.  He  is  the 
court  of  final  resort,  and  must  have  a  clear  eye  and 
a  quick  hand.  Almost  anyone  can  pick  out  poor  ap¬ 
ples  as  they  come  down  the  board,  but  only  a  good 
mau  can  see  the  blemishes  as  they  turn  up  once 
and  catch  the  poor  fruit  as  it  rolls  a  foot  or  two. 
GRADING. — "Where  a  mechanical  grader  is  hot 
used  it  is  important  to  have  a  convenient  way  of 
telling  whether  an  apple  is  just  a  little  too  small  or 
not.  Probably  the  best  way  is  to  reach  around  an 
apple  with  the  thumb  and  middle  finger,  noting  how 
far  apart  the  ends  are  or  liow  much  they  hip,  then 
cut  the  apple  across  at  its  largest  diameter  and 
measure  it.  In  half  an  hour  one  can  guess  very 
closely  to  the  size  of 
a  two-inch.  2^4 -inch 
or  214-inch  apple. 
The  -a  me  method  is 
.  used  iu  picking  ap¬ 
ples  for  facing.  Re¬ 
member  t  li  at  the 
diameter  of  the  apple 
is  the  largest  diam¬ 
eter  at  right  angles 
to  the  core.  In  other 
w  o  r  d  s,  a  two-inch 
apple  is  the  smallest 
apple  that  will  stick 
iu  a  two-inch  circle. 
F  AGING.  —  Before 
the  apples  are  put  in 
the  barrel  it  is  faced. 
That  is,  a  layer  of 
perfect  apples  is 
placed  in  the  end  of 
the  barrel  in  some 
regular  pattern.  We 
need  not  go  into  the 
question,  which  has 
been  much  discussed, 
of  whether  it  is  hon¬ 
est  to  face  or  to  use 
facers  better  than  the 
poorest  apples  in  the 
barrel.  The  fact  re¬ 
mains  that  the  people 
who  buy  the  apples  in 
barrels  pay  about  as 
much  attention  to  an 
attractive  face  as  to 
the  rest  of  the  bar¬ 
rel,  and  will  p  a  y 
more  for  a  good  face 
thau  they  will  for  a 
poor  one.  if  other 
things  are  equal. 
The  qualities  that  go 
to  make  a  good  set 
of  apples  for  a  face 
are  the  same  that 
make  a  good  set  of 
apples  for  an  exhi¬ 
bition  plate  at  a  fruit 
show.  They  must  be 
perfect.  They  must 
be  as  nearly  as  pos¬ 
sible  alike  in  size, 
shape  and  color,  and 
they  must  be  ar¬ 
ranged  in  a  uniform 
manner.  First  put 
in  the  barrel  the  pa¬ 
pers.  etc.,  that  are  to 
come  between  the  apples  and  the  head.  These  may 
he  a  corrugated  paper  cap  or  an  excelsior  cushion 
with  or  without  a  white  paper  back  of  it.  Then 
put  in  the  barrel  about  a  peck  of  apples  the  right 
size.  Most  apples  face  best  if  placed  with  the  stems 
down,  but  some  long  sorts  should  be  laid  on  the 
side.  Place  a  ring  around  the  uitside  of  the  barrel, 
being  sure  that  all  touch  As  apples  are  not  often 
